For AI startups, the policy landscape is expanding faster than most small teams can reasonably track. This creates a practical challenge for Little Tech: even when a startup wants to engage constructively, it may not have the resources to follow every debate in every jurisdiction.

Ben Supple, head of global policy at ElevenLabs, joins Matt Perault to talk about his experience running a public policy function at a company that is scaling rapidly. ElevenLabs is a leader in voice AI, building products for creators, enterprises, and governments, while its public policy function is still small enough to count on one hand.

The conversation offers a look at how a fast-growing AI company prioritizes policy work, builds relationships with governments, and makes the case for clear, consistent rules that startups can implement.

They also discuss how voice AI can improve citizen services and outcomes: replacing rigid, menu-based phone trees with more intelligent conversational agents that can resolve issues, switch languages live, and offer greater accessibility.

Topics covered:

00:00: Intro

01:42: What is ElevenLabs?

04:59: Voice AI use cases, from dubbing to customer service

06:59: The competitive landscape for voice AI

10:51: Building a policy function at ElevenLabs

12:00: Prioritizing policy work with a small team

15:13: Engaging policymakers across jurisdictions

18:11: Growing and shipping at startup speed

20:19: Human oversight and AI agents

22:54: Key policy issues for voice AI

25:42: Scaling into new regulatory obligations

30:17: State AI rules and the need for clear goalposts

32:25: ElevenLabs’ expansion in New York

34:10: Fixing the front door to government

36:22: Government use cases for voice AI

38:55: The social value of voice AI, One Million Voices, and accessibility

Resources:

Subscribe to the a16z AI Policy Brief: https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/

Follow Matt Perault: https://x.com/MattPerault

Follow Ben Supple: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-supple-a900695/

Learn more about ElevenLabs for Government: https://elevenlabs.io/chatbot/government

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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