ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski on the race to pass the Turing test

The four-year-old startup has moved far beyond its origins as a tool for creators, embedding its technology into the customer service operations of firms like Klarna and Deutsche Telekom. While the company faces increasing pressure from former clients who have begun training their own models, Staniszewski remains focused on the long-term goal of passing the Turing test. He argues that true conversational mastery requires more than just intelligence; it demands the ability to modulate tone, speed, and emotional response in real-time.

Staniszewski acknowledges that the industry is entering a period where the boundaries between model providers and application builders are blurring. Despite the rising costs of inference and model training, he is prioritizing market share over immediate margin expansion. With over 55% of the company's revenue now tied to enterprise contracts, the focus has shifted toward high-stakes deployments, such as public health systems in Poland where AI agents manage patient scheduling. Looking ahead, the CEO remains non-committal on an IPO timeline, emphasizing that the firm is building for longevity rather than immediate market entry.