Scarlett Johansson Slams OpenAI For Allegedly Stealing Her Likeness To Voice ChatGPT Program

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson Slams OpenAI For Allegedly Stealing Her Likeness To Voice ChatGPT Program

Actress Scarlett Johansson is accusing OpenAI’s CEO of stealing her likeness.

The Black Widow star claims the company used a version of her voice to power their latest artificial intelligence assistant “Sky,” despite her previously deciding not to partner with them.

Scarlett Johansson

In a statement released shortly after OpenAI debuted their updated ChatGPT 4.0 program last week, Scarlett Johansson explained that she received an offer to voice the technology from the company’s CEO Sam Altman in September, but ultimately declined. She wrote:

“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.”

Scarlett Johansson

Continuing, the 39-year-old added:

“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.”

Scarlett Johansson went on to point out that Sam Altman even alluded to using her voice by referencing the 2013 film Her in a tweet he posted shortly after the program went live. In case you’re unfamiliar with the movie, Johansson stars in the film as the character Samantha, an AI operating system that the main character falls in love with.

Referring to the tweet, Johansson stated:

“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,”

The actress also declared her intention to seek legal action against her likeness being stolen, though she did note that after some pressure from her lawyers, OpenAI “reluctantly” removed the program until the matter is resolved. If you recall, the issue of loose regulations surrounding AI as it pertains to the protection of the actors who lend their voices to the programs played a big role in the Hollywood strikes last year.

Johansson also touched on this in her recent statement, adding:

“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.”

As mentioned, OpenAI has removed the software from public use for the time being in response to Johansson’s complaint and has since published an article detailing their voice selection process.

[VIA]

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