Optimus Prime voice Peter Cullen dies at 85; AI deal keeps his recordings in the role

Peter Cullen, who voiced Optimus Prime across four decades of Transformers films and television, died at 85 at his home in Los Angeles, his agent Kevin Motley told The Hollywood Reporter. As of June 2026, ElevenLabs partnered with Hasbro's AI Studios to license Transformers characters, retaining Cullen's original recordings as Optimus Prime, Variety reported.