Scarlett Johansson vs OpenAI: 'Her' actor slams firm after AI system's voice resembles her own

Scarlett Johansson said that Sam Altman had pitched the idea to her to voice OpenAI's Sky.

Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has vehemently criticised OpenAI for using a voice closely resembling her own in their ChatGPT product without her consent, raising serious ethical questions about the deployment of AI-generated voices.

Johansson revealed that OpenAI had approached her nine months ago, inviting her to lend her voice to its AI system, a proposition she declined for "personal reasons."

To her dismay, she later discovered that OpenAI had proceeded to release a voice option for ChatGPT that was disturbingly similar to hers. "I was shocked and angered when I heard the voice option, which sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference," Johansson said in a statement.

The voice, named “Sky,” was showcased during OpenAI's recent event unveiling the ChatGPT-4o model, garnering immediate comparisons to Johansson’s AI character in the 2013 acclaimed film "Her."

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, added fuel to the fire with a cryptic tweet saying “her,” hinting at the intentional mimicry. Following public outcry, OpenAI removed the Sky voice option, clarifying in a blog post that Sky was not modelled after Johansson but rather voiced by a different professional actress.

“To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents,” the blog post stated.

Johansson disclosed that Altman had pitched the idea to her by suggesting her voice could help bridge the gap between technology and creativity. “He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people,” Johansson recounted.

Despite her refusal, OpenAI approached her again just days before Sky's release, prompting Johansson's lawyers to intervene and demand the voice's removal.

The controversy drew wider scrutiny, with many questioning the gendered and fawning nature of Sky’s voice. “You can really tell that a man built this tech,” joked Desi Lydic on The Daily Show. “She’s like, ‘I have all the information in the world, but I don’t know anything.’”

OpenAI defended its choice of vocals, explaining that they sought a "timeless" and "trustworthy" voice, reviewing hundreds of submissions over five months before selecting five final options. These voice actors recorded sessions in San Francisco, enabling OpenAI to fine-tune its models.

The removal of Sky coincided with the resignation of several top safety team members, including key researcher Jan Leike, who criticized the company for prioritising "shiny products" over safety protocols.

Despite the internal turmoil, Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman assured the public that safety remains a priority.

Major Hollywood unions like Sag-Aftra have voiced their concerns about AI appropriating their likenesses without proper consent or compensation.

In the Oscar-nominated movie “Her”, Johansson voiced "Samantha", an AI assistant that the lead actor Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with and has a subsequent relationship. The movie, a commentary on technology taking over our lives, was very well received and was nominated for a slew of awards.