Scarlett Johansson is furious with tech company OpenAI for using a voice very similar to hers in their ChatGPT app. She has hired legal counsel and sent the company two letters demanding an explanation.
Scarlett Johansson is expressing her anger and disbelief after discovering that tech company OpenAI has used a voice very similar to hers in its ChatGPT app. Johansson's legal team has sent two letters to OpenAI, demanding an explanation of the process behind the creation of the voice, known as "Sky."
According to a statement released by Johansson's publicist, the actress was offered a role as the voice of ChatGPT 4.0 in September 2022. However, she declined the offer for personal reasons. Nine months later, she was surprised to find that the "Sky" voice sounded remarkably like her own.
"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," Johansson stated.
She accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman of using her voice intentionally, as he had previously tweeted "her" as a reference to the film in which Johansson voiced the chat system Samantha.
OpenAI has since removed the "Sky" voice from its products and issued a statement apologizing to Johansson. However, Johansson believes that the incident raises important questions about the protection of individuals' likenesses and identities in the era of deepfakes and artificial intelligence.
"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," Johansson said.
She called for transparency and appropriate legislation to ensure that individual rights are protected.
This is not the first time that Johansson's voice has been used without her consent. In November 2022, she took legal action against an AI image-generating app called Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar for using her voice and likeness in an ad.
The incident highlights the growing concern over the unauthorized use of individuals' likenesses and voices in digital technology. In response to this, a bipartisan group of senators has proposed the No Fakes Act, which would establish the federal right to control one's own image and voice and allow individuals to control digital replicas.
