OpenAI has suspended its new ChatGPT voice, Sky, after accusations of mimicking Scarlett Johansson’s role in the 2013 film Her, transitioning science fiction into science fact.
The inspiration behind the system became apparent when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted “her” on X during Sky’s launch. Altman has previously expressed admiration for Her in interviews, but a critical statement from Johansson has the company likely fearing a lawsuit.
Johansson revealed that OpenAI initially approached her last September to officially voice ChatGPT 4.0. Although she declined, the company reached out again two days before Sky’s launch.
According to Johansson, she and Altman didn’t discuss the matter further, prompting The Avengers star to involve her lawyers upon recognizing the similarities. This legal pressure led OpenAI to “reluctantly” remove the soundalike voice.
Here is Johansson’s statement in full:
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.
worked closely with the voice acting industry to ensure we took the right steps to cast ChatGPT’s voices. Each actor receives compensation above top-of-market rates, and this will continue for as long as their voices are used in our products.”
The statement continued, “We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice. To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.”
You can judge for yourself whether Sky sounds like Johansson in the video below…
You can judge for yourself whether Sky sounds like Johansson in the video below.
What do you think about this controversy? Does Sky’s voice sound too much like Scarlett Johansson? Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments!
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