Scarlett Johansson has recently accused OpenAI of replicating her voice for Sky, the ChatGPT voice model, after she declined their offer to collaborate on the project.
According to Johansson’s detailed statement, she was approached by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in September to provide the voice for ChatGPT 4.0. However, she ultimately turned down the opportunity. When the demo was released, Johansson expressed shock and disbelief at how similar the voice sounded to hers, prompting her to voice her concerns publicly. She claimed that Altman’s tweet, containing the single word “her,” alluded to her role as Samantha in the film “Her,” where she voiced an AI character who develops a relationship with a human.
Johansson revealed that Altman contacted her agent two days before the demo was released, asking her to reconsider her decision. However, before they could discuss further, the voice model was already public. Johansson felt compelled to seek legal counsel, which resulted in two letters being sent to Altman and OpenAI, demanding clarification on the process used to create the “Sky” voice. Eventually, OpenAI agreed to remove the voice from their products.
In response, Altman clarified that the voice of Sky was not intended to resemble Johansson’s and was actually performed by a voice actor hired by OpenAI prior to reaching out to Johansson. Altman expressed regret over the miscommunication and stated that OpenAI had paused using Sky’s voice out of respect for Johansson. Joanne Jang, OpenAI’s model behavior lead, confirmed that the company is now in discussions with Johansson’s team to address the issue.
