Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI used a voice ‘eerily similar’ to hers after she said no
- OpenAI launched a new voice for ChatGPT named “Sky” that sounded eerily similar to Scarlett Johansson’s character in the movie Her.
- Johansson revealed she had declined a request from Sam Altman to license her voice, and was “shocked” by the similarity.
- OpenAI paused the use of the “Sky” voice and denied it was an imitation, but the incident raised big questions about AI and identity.
The launch of GPT-4o’s voice features took a dramatic turn when actress Scarlett Johansson released a statement saying the “Sky” voice was so similar to her own that even her friends and family couldn’t tell the difference. She stated that Sam Altman had previously approached her to be the voice, which she declined.
The situation became a case study in AI ethics. It forced a public conversation about how AI companies obtain and use the likeness of human voices and faces, and what rights individuals have to control their own digital identity.
Source: NPR – “Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI used a voice ‘eerily similar’ to hers after she said no”
