At SXSW this week, AI audio company ElevenLabs used a deeply personal story to announce a major expansion of its accessibility mission: a commitment to provide 1 million people with permanent voice loss free access to its voice restoration technology — a $1 billion in-kind pledge.

Eric Dane's Legacy

The initiative is championed by Rebecca Gayheart Dane, widow of actor Eric Dane, who died in February 2026 after a battle with ALS at age 53. In his final weeks, Dane worked with ElevenLabs to clone his voice using past recordings. "When he received his ElevenLabs voice, it made him emotional to have that part of himself back," Gayheart Dane said at the SXSW panel. "He wanted to help as many people as possible."

11 Voices Docuseries

To mark the expansion, ElevenLabs premiered 11 Voices at SXSW — a documentary series where 11 individuals living with voice loss narrate their own stories using their AI-restored voices. Featured subjects include a stroke survivor now giving public lectures again, a hospital chaplain with ALS who returned to counseling patients, and a man with cerebral palsy pursuing acting and modeling.

Scale and Reach

The program started in 2024 focused on ALS patients in the US. It has since grown to support anyone worldwide with permanent voice loss from any cause. To date, ElevenLabs has supported approximately 7,000 individuals and built a network of more than 800 nonprofit partners across 49 countries. Participants receive a free lifetime ElevenLabs license and retain full ownership of their voice models.

Eligible individuals can apply at elevenlabs.io/impact-program.