Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI ripped off her voice after she told the company not to use it in software

Actor
Scarlett
Johansson
says
OpenAI
CEO
Sam
Altman
used
a
voice
similar
to
hers
for
its

artificial
intelligence
voice
software
despite
declining
his
invitation
for
its
use.

The
response
comes
after
OpenAI
said
it
would

pull
its
ChatGPT
AI
voice
dubbed
“Sky”,
which

launched
last
week
amid
controversy
over
it
sounding
like
Johansson’s
voice
in
the
movie
“Her.”

Johansson
said
Altman
approached
her
last
September
and
then
again
two
days
before
it

announced
ChatGPT-4o
on
May
13.
The
actor
played
the
voice
character
in
the
film
“Her”
about
a
man
who
forms
a
relationship
with
an
AI
virtual
assistant
named
Samantha.

“After
much
consideration
and
for
personal
reasons,
I
declined
the
offer,”
Johansson
said
in
a
statement
to
CNBC.
“Nine
months
later,
my
friends,
family
and
the
general
public
all
noted
how
much
the
newest
system
named
‘Sky’
sounded
like
me.”

Altman

tweeted
the
cryptic
message
“her”
on
the
day
OpenAI
announced
its
new
AI.

“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’s
statement
continued.
“Mr.
Altman
even
insinuated
that
the
similarity
was
intentional,
tweeting
a
single
word
‘her.'”

The
actor
wrote
Monday
that
she
has
hired
legal
counsel.
Johansson
has
sparred
with
large
companies
like
Disney
in
the
past.
In
2021,
Johansson
and
Walt
Disney

settled
the
breach
of
contract
lawsuit
the
“Black
Widow”
actor
brought
against
the
studio.

“We’ve
heard
questions
about
how
we
chose
the
voices
in
ChatGPT,
especially
Sky,”

Microsoft-backed
OpenAI
posted
on
X
on
Monday.

“Sky’s
voice
is
not
an
imitation
of
Scarlett
Johansson
but
belongs
to
a
different
professional
actress
using
her
own
natural
speaking
voice,”
the
company
wrote
in
a
blog
post
on
Sunday.
“To
protect
their
privacy,
we
cannot
share
the
names
of
our
voice
talents.”

Johansson
said
she
wrote
two
letters
to
Altman
and
OpenAI,
asking
them
to
detail
the
process
of
creating
Sky.

“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,”
her
statement
says.
“I
look
forward
to
resolution
in
the
form
of
transparency
and
the
passage
of
appropriate
legislation
to
help
ensure
that
individual
rights
are
protected.”

OpenAI
didn’t
immediately
respond
to
a
request
for
comment
on
the
actor’s
statement.

Here
is
Scarlett
Johansson’s
full
statement:

“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.”