Actress Scarlett Johansson is threatening legal action against Sam Altman and his company OpenAI for copying her voice for ChatGPT without permission.
Johansson, who voiced the artificial intelligence assistant in the 2013 sci-fi film “Her,” said that ChatGPT’s “Sky” sounded so eerily similar to her that even her closest friends couldn’t tell the difference. Ta.
In a statement provided to USA Today, Johansson said Altman asked her to be the voice for the AI system, but she declined, so he ended up imitating her voice.
Altman went the extra mile to recruit Johansson, she said.
“Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent and asked us to reconsider,” she wrote. “The system existed before we could connect.”
Altman denied that the voice belonged to Johansson. OpenAI said it is working to support stronger protections against deepfakes and prevent synthetic voices from copying real human voices.
“The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was never our intention to mimic her,” Altman said in a statement late Monday. “We cast a voice actor for Sky before contacting Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused the use of Sky’s voice in our products, and we apologize to Ms. Johansson for not communicating better.”
When OpenAI released a demo of its latest ChatGPT model last week, it included a “voice mode” in which an emotional AI answers questions. One of those voices was “Sora.”
“When I heard the demo released, I was shocked, outraged, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice so eerily similar to mine that close friends and the press could not distinguish it,” Johansson said. Altman hinted that the resemblance was intentional, tweeting the word “her,” a reference to a film in which I voiced Samantha, a chat system that creates intimate relationships with humans.”
OpenAI said it would “pause” the use of Sky audio to address questions about how it selected ChatGPT audio.
The artificial intelligence company’s blog post on Sunday said Skye’s voice was “not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson, but that of another professional actress using her own natural speaking voice,” and that the company said throughout the course that each A five-month process that the voice says was “carefully selected”.
Johansson said her lawyers have written two letters to Altman and OpenAI asking them to “detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice.”
“As a result, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to remove the Sky audio,” she said.
The news was first reported by NPR.
The spat with Johansson comes at a difficult time for OpenAI, which is facing lawsuits from media companies, authors and artists for using their material without their consent or compensation.
“Johansson is one of the most famous actresses in the world and speaks for a whole group of creative people who are grappling with the fact that automated systems are beginning to undermine the value of their work. “Open AI’s decision to steal for its own purposes will receive widespread and legitimate attention,” journalist Casey Newton wrote in Platform magazine on Monday.
Another major firm, SAG-AFTRA, also said it supported Johansson. Influential unions representing TV and radio artists are fighting over rights to actors’ voices and images as studios look to use AI to create entertainment. SAG-AFTRA said it supports federal legislation that protects members’ voices and likenesses from unauthorized digital copying.
“We thank Ms. Johansson for speaking out on this issue of critical importance to all SAG-AFTRA members. We share her concerns and ask for clarity and clarity regarding the audio used. We fully support her right to transparency,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement Tuesday. statement.
Altman said in a speech last year that he and other OpenAI executives drew inspiration from “Her,” the story of a lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his virtual assistant Samantha (Johansson).
OpenAI employees tweeted references to the film on social media platform X after the announcement last week, with Altman posting one word: “She.”
Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, said the OpenAI team was more inspired by human conversation than ‘her’. “As soon as you stop talking, I interject. I can read your tone and respond to it. And it’s really natural, rich, and interactive,” she says on the wall.・Told Street Journal.
In response to questions from USA TODAY, ChatGPT said that Skye’s voice “is not specifically imitating Scarlett Johansson’s voice,” adding, “Rather than imitating the voice of any particular celebrity, she has a neutral, natural tone. He said it was developed to be.
Johansson, a star of the Marvel Universe, has taken on big business companies before. In 2021, she settled a breach of contract lawsuit she filed against Walt Disney over her compensation for Black Widow.
Here is Johansson’s full statement.
“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman to be the voice for the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He said he felt he could bridge the gap and reassure consumers about the big changes around humans and AI. He said he thought my voice would give people peace of mind.
After careful consideration, I have declined the offer for personal reasons. Nine months later, my friends, family, and the general public have all taken note of how much my newest system, named “Sky,” looks like me.
When I heard the public demo, I was shocked, angry, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice so eerily similar to mine that close friends and the press couldn’t tell it apart. Mr. Altman hinted that the resemblance was intentional, tweeting the word “she,” a nod to the film in which she played the voice of Samantha, a chat system in which humans form intimate relationships. It was something.
Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent and asked us to reconsider. The system existed before you could connect.
As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire a lawyer, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI explaining what they had done and providing the exact information that created the “Sky” audio. I asked to know more about the process. As a result, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to remove the “Sky” audio.
As we all grapple with deepfakes and protecting our likeness, our work, and our identities, I believe these are issues that should be made absolutely clear. I look forward to solutions in the form of transparency and appropriate laws being passed to ensure that individual rights are protected. ”
