VO Business Answers · AI & the industry
What is an AI rider in a voiceover contract?
An AI rider is contract language attached to a VO agreement that restricts synthetic use of your recording: no training voice models on it, no cloning or simulating your voice, no generating new lines you never read. NAVA publishes a widely used AI rider for exactly this purpose. Without such language, broad usage grants may arguably cover uses that didn't exist when you signed.
The rider exists because standard contract phrases — 'all media now known or hereafter devised,' 'in perpetuity' — were written before voice synthesis and read alarmingly broadly today. An AI rider draws the line explicitly: the client bought a performance, not the raw material for a synthetic version of you.
Attaching one is increasingly normal professional practice, and reputable clients rarely object — the ask is simply that your voice not be used to build a product you never agreed to. Where a client refuses, that's information about the project's real intentions, and the conversation moves to whether synthesis rights are on the table and at what price.
VOpilot's audition and contract parsing flags AI-related language in briefs and agreements, so a project asking for training or synthesis rights surfaces before you've quoted it like ordinary usage.
Sources: NAVA
By Jack Daniel — working voiceover artist; founder, VOpilot. Updated 2026-07-24.
Related questions
VOpilot is the business studio for voiceover talent — forward the emails you already get and your jobs, auditions, invoices, and CRM build themselves. Free 30-day trial, no card required.