Founded 2026 / Active / Fundraising
VocalOS
Exploring protection, ownership and consent for voice identity in the age of synthetic media.
01
Why I built it
A voice is part of what makes a person identifiable.
I created VocalOS because a person’s voice is one of the things that makes them uniquely identifiable — much like an iris or a fingerprint.
As AI makes it increasingly easy to reproduce and generate voices, it seemed obvious to me that voice identity needed its own layer of protection, ownership and consent.
02
The problem I kept seeing
Synthetic voice moved faster than the norms around permission.
A voice can carry identity, livelihood and creative expression. For creators and performers, reproducing it without clear consent raises questions that ordinary content permissions do not fully answer.
The challenge is not only technical. It is also about ownership, informed consent, licensing and the responsible use of synthetic voice technology.
03
What it became
A project focused on voice rights and responsible use.
VocalOS is being developed around clearer ways to express consent, ownership and permitted use when a voice is recorded, licensed or reproduced synthetically.
VocalOS is led by CEO Rich Mayes and is currently actively fundraising.
04
Why it still matters
Responsible use begins with the person behind the voice.
Synthetic voice technology creates meaningful possibilities, but those possibilities should not erase the rights of the creators and performers whose identities make the work possible.
VocalOS is part of a wider effort to establish clearer expectations around consent, ownership and accountability. It is not presented as a complete safeguard against misuse.