Mr. Potato Head, Optimus Prime and Mr. Monopoly are uniting — in the world of AI.
AI audio startup ElevenLabs has partnered with Hasbro to bring a collection of the toy and game company’s suite of characters, including some from Transformers, the board games Monopoly and Clue, Mr. Potato Head and to its Iconic Marketplace, its collection of celebrity voices and likenesses that companies can license for commercial use. Some of the characters were available as of Wednesday, while others, including Mr. Monopoly and Optimus Prime, will be available soon.
The move is a partnership between ElevenLabs and Hasbro’s AI Studio, which is overseen by CEO Bertie Thomson. Thomson and Dustin Blank, ElevenLabs’ head of partnerships, revealed the news at Axios’ AI+NY event in New York — alongside demos of the AI versions of Peppa Pig and “G.I. Joe” character Cobra Commander. (Peppa Pig is currently only available in demo mode.)
“We’ve approached this with very detailed and robust asset guardrails, so starting right from the whole direction of the character itself,” Thomson said, who called the licensing model “behavioral licensing.”
“You have so many brand-new atmospheres and opportunities where their characters can be dynamic and interactive,” Thomson added, suggesting AI-backed voices for the characters’ appearances at theme parks.
