Did OpenAI Copy Scarlett Johansson's Voice Despite Her Explicit Refusal?
The leading AI company has pulled its "Sky" voice-chat system amidst backlash for allegedly copying the Hollywood star's vocal likeness.
In 2013, Scarlett Johansson starred in the cautionary-tale movie Her, where she played the voice of a futuristic AI assistant that Joaquin Phoenix’s character fell in love.
In 2024, when Big Tech companies are taking inspiration from cautionary tale films, OpenAI was creating its own evolved version of ChatGPT, which featured an interactive conversational AI system.
To voice it, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approached in Johansson in September and asked her to license her famous voice for the system, potentially as nod to her role in Her. However, Johansson declined.
In May, two days before OpenAI planned to demonstrate the technology, Altman contacted her representatives again asking her to reconsider, but before she could respond, the company released a demo of its interactive technology, featuring a voice called “Sky.” Many people commented that the sultry and flirty voice shared an uncanny resemblance to Johansson’s, a theory cemented when Altman coyly tweeted “her”.
Johansson quickly responded.
She released a statement detailing the series of events, and threatened legal action against OpenAI, publicly alleging the artificial intelligence start-up copied her voice after she refused to license it to the company. Johansson gained wide support for making a public stand against AI going around talent and creatives by artificially and synthetically creating pale imitations without paying them.
In full damage control mode, OpenAI suspended its release of “Sky”. The company said in a blog post that “AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice — 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 claimed that they auditioned hundreds of voice actors to create the voice of “Sky” last summer, but that they were taking it down as a sign of respect to the Hollywood star.
Many are skeptical of OpenAI’s claims, pointing to Altman’s tweets and repeated request for Johansson to reconsider licensing her voice so close to “Sky’s” release as evidence of Johansson’s correct suspicions. It remains to be seen whether she pursues legal action against OpenAI.
The lesson: Don’t tweet a reference to a crime, whether you did it or not!