OpenAI temporarily suspends the use of Sky’s voice in ChatGPT after questions arose regarding its similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson. Although OpenAI states that professional voice actors were used, the complexity of the situation suggests otherwise.
Johansson, through her attorney, sent two letters to OpenAI demanding transparency in the development of Sky’s voice. She revealed that OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, had reached out to her in September of last year to acquire licensing rights to use her voice for ChatGPT, aiming to instill confidence in users. After careful consideration, Johansson declined the offer, prompting Altman to contact her once again.
Upon listening to Sky’s voice, Johansson expressed shock and anger at Altman’s continued efforts to find a voice resembling hers. At a time when artists and actors are actively protecting their identities from AI-generated imitations, Johansson demanded OpenAI to disclose the full story behind the voice development process.
In response, Altman reiterated that Sky’s voice is not Scarlett Johansson’s and there was no intentional imitation. As a gesture of respect towards Johansson, OpenAI decided to cease the use of Sky’s voice in all products and issued an apology for miscommunication.
Altman had previously praised the movie “her” as his favorite, which featured a AI-generated conversational voice portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in Spike Jonze’s 2013 film.
TLDR: OpenAI pauses Sky’s voice in ChatGPT due to resemblance to Scarlett Johansson after previous attempts to acquire her voice for the project were declined.
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