Gnani, Eleven Labs’ cheap, human-like calls face a regulatory test
The post Gnani, Eleven Labs’ cheap, human-like calls face a regulatory test appeared first on The Ken .
Saloni, a call center employee in Delhi, used to handle customer complaints and interact with disgruntled passengers from ride-hailing services. The company now utilizes voice-AI bots to address the majority of customer issues, relegating human agents to a secondary role for more complex problems. Saloni recounted instances where customers became increasingly agitated by the time a bot transferred them to her, resulting in verbal outbursts.
As voice-AI technology continues to evolve, businesses are increasingly relying on automated call handling to reduce costs. Companies such as Flipkart, Swiggy, and Zomato offer premium support plans that provide direct access to human agents for an additional fee. Indian voice-AI startups have attracted significant investment, with Sarvam AI leading the pack in securing over $350 million in funding.
ElevenLabs, a London-based voice-AI company, plans to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" in India. However, recent regulatory changes imposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regarding application-to-person (A2P) communication may impact the viability of voice-AI companies' business models.
Written by urgent.news from The Ken's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
