Hollywood icon Scarlett Johansson stated that OpenAI used a voice “eerily similar” to hers for their new ChatGPT 4o chatbot, despite her having declined the company’s request to provide her voice. Earlier in the day, OpenAI announced that it would no longer be using the voice, but did not specify the reason.
A dispute with a Hollywood star is adding to Sam Altman’s concerns as scrutiny of the $86 billion start-up intensifies. OpenAI has been leading the way among AI start-ups and major tech companies like Google and Microsoft in creating advanced tools that can generate responses to a wide array of human input using audio, text, or images.
Scarlett Johansson Reveals She Declined The Offer
In an official statement, Scarlett Johansson stated, “Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.”
She continued, “After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer. Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me.”
Scarlett Johansson: I Was Shocked, Angered & In Disbelief
Scarlett Johansson, in her statement, added, “When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference.”
Sam Altman’s announcement of the new product was shared on X on the same day of the product demonstration and is still live. Johansson further said, “Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word ‘her’ – a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.”
her
— Sam Altman (@sama) May 13, 2024
Scarlett Johansson: Mr. Altman Contacted My Agent
The Hollywood star added, “Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there. As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”
Open AI Retorts: The Voice of Sky is Not Scarlett Johansson’s
In response to Scarlett Johansson’s statement, Open AI CEO Sam Altman said in a written statement that the voice of “Sky” was not meant to sound liked Johansson’s and was chosen before reaching out to her.
Altman stated, “The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better.”
