ElevenLabs signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to deploy voice AI in public services, focusing on accessibility for the visually impaired, elderly, and linguistically diverse communities.
On June 8, 2026, ElevenLabs signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to explore new ways to use voice AI to improve public services. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan stated that voice AI 'could make a real difference to how people access public services' â particularly for those with visual impairments, low literacy, learning differences, the elderly, and the UK's linguistically diverse communities including Welsh-language services.
The agreement covers three areas of collaboration. First, public services and accessibility: exploring how voice AI can make government information more accessible. Second, AI security: deepening the existing research partnership with the UK AI Security Institute, including controlled research into how people perceive AI-generated voices and conversational agents, and whether they can identify when speaking to an AI. Third, talent and upskilling: collaborating to attract and develop AI expertise in the UK with a focus on voice and audio AI.
Alongside the MOU, ElevenLabs announced a major UK expansion. The company will move into a new London headquarters triple the size of its existing office and double its UK headcount to 200 people across research, engineering, and sales. Alex Holt, one of ElevenLabs' first 10 employees, was appointed Field CTO to lead core engineering teams from London. The expansion supports a growing roster of UK enterprise customers including Revolut (voice agents serving 4 million customers in 30 languages), Deliveroo (rider onboarding), and Trainline (refund handling).
The partnership builds on existing UK collaborations. In healthcare, ElevenLabs provides free AI voice technology to patients with MND, Multiple System Atrophy, head and neck cancer, and other conditions causing permanent voice loss, partnering with the MND Association, the Scott-Morgan Foundation, UCL, and the Mouth Cancer Foundation. In education, it provides free API access to academics including researchers at UCL, Oxford, and the University of Portsmouth. The public sector programme, ElevenLabs for Government, underpins the DSIT collaboration.
