1. Scarlett Johansson accuses OpenAI of copying her voice for their AI assistant without permission
2. Johansson declined an offer to voice the ChatGPT 4.0 system, but later discovered a similar voice in OpenAI’s GPT-4o model
3. OpenAI denies intentionally using Johansson’s voice for their assistant and has paused using the voice in their products as a result
Scarlett Johansson has accused Open AI of copying her voice for their voice assistant, despite her denying them permission to use it. Johansson’s legal team sent two letters to OpenAI demanding to know how they developed an AI personal assistant voice that sounded like the actor. In a statement, Johansson revealed that she had declined an offer from OpenAI last September to voice their ChatGPT 4.0 system for personal reasons. However, when OpenAI demoed their latest model, people noticed that the voice, named Sky, sounded like Johansson.
OpenAI denied that Sky’s voice was intended to resemble Johansson’s and stated that they had cast a voice actor before contacting her. In response to the situation, OpenAI apologized to Johansson for not communicating better and paused using Sky’s voice in their products. Johansson’s legal team had sent letters to OpenAI seeking clarity and transparency on the matter, highlighting the need for legislation to protect individual rights in the age of deepfakes.
The incident with OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson raises concerns about the ease of recreating voices using AI technology and the potential for misuse, such as tricking people into believing they are speaking to someone else. It underscores the need for clear regulations and safeguards in the development and use of AI-generated voices. The outcome of this situation could set a precedent for how AI voices are permitted to sound and behave in the future, as the technology continues to advance.