AI voice company ElevenLabs has released an audiobook of the Odyssey, narrated by an AI version of actor Michael Caine. The audiobook is created with a cloned version of Caine’s voice, which he licensed to the company, as well as 20 other AI voices, plus sound effects and music, the NYT reports. Even with an artificial cast, it took four human producers six weeks to create the 13-hour audiobook. ElevenLabs created the audiobook to “showcase the creative potential of voice clones and A.I. narration,” and timed it to coincide with media coverage of the upcoming film adaptation. “The idea was, […]
People 6/23
New Books Publishing June 23
This week’s fiction releases include new books by Danny McBride and Lisa Jewell, while nonfiction includes work by Taylor Sheridan, Robert Wright, Isaac Butler, and Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. 28 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-june-23 11 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-june-23 Also publishing this week is Doe by Rebecca Barrow, which is excerpted in our Buzz Books 2026: Spring/Summer anthology. We consult a number of sources in compiling our weekly lists and PM members can see our lists for the coming months on Bookshop. Check out June‘s 145 fiction releases, 53 works of nonfiction, […]
Dutch Publishers Launch Opt-In AI Licensing Platform
Some of the largest publishing companies in the Netherlands have joined to create a platform that gives publishers control over licensing their books to AI companies. Publishers VBK, WPG, Lannoo, and Maven and distributor CB have launched Bookpact.ai in an effort to keep rightsholders in control of how their books are used by tech companies. With authors’ consent, publishers can specify on Bookpact which titles may be used, and for what licensed usage (training, translation, summarization, etc.). “AI companies then submit offers for targeted licenses on a per-title basis,” they explain in a release, and publishers can choose to accept […]
Granta Ends Prize Partnerships After AI Fiasco
Granta magazine has ended its “external publishing partnerships,” including one with the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, after accusations that prize-winning stories were written with AI. As part of their partnership, Granta published five winning stories online, though magazine editors didn’t have anything to do with their selection. “Granta editors were not involved with these stories or their selection beyond copy-editing them upon receipt,” a spokesperson for the magazine said at the time. In a release, Granta stated, “For the sake of our own editorial integrity, the Granta Trust board has now taken the decision that we will no longer engage […]
Authors Who Opted Out of Settlement Sue Anthropic for Infringement
One-hundred-seventeen authors who opted out of the Bartz v. Anthropic settlement are suing Anthropic separately for copyright infringement, led by Thomas William Shakespeare. (Just two of the plaintiffs, Laura Esquivel and Jordi Castells, have sought court approval for opting out after the deadline.) The authors all assert that they “did not discover, and could not have reasonably discovered, that their specific works were included in Anthropic’s private, internal database” until “November 24, 2025, when the direct notice to class members was completed and/or their claims were tolled pending the approval of the settlement of Bartz, or February 9, 2026, the […]