Scarlett Johansson Requests OpenAI Clarification Over AI Voice Resemblance

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson and her lawyers have requested OpenAI disclose more information about the voice of the new AI assistant GPT-4o, claiming that it sounds very similar to hers and threatening legal action

Johansson expressed her concerns just a few days after OpenAI presented their new AI model GPT-4o during a live event. The demonstration used a version of the AI assistant with a voice called “Sky”.

The actress wrote in a statement, reportedly first published by NPR on X, that she felt upset after the presentation. “When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference.”

According to the statement, OpenAI reached out to the actress to use her voice for the company’s virtual assistant, but she declined. It also claims that the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, contacted Johansson twice: first, nine months ago and the second time, just days before the presentation.

“After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer,” says the statement.

Multiple users on social media also noticed the similarities in the voices. But Altman replied that they never intended for the Sky voice to sound like hers. Many have criticized this response, citing moments when Sam Altman makes a direct comparison to the 2014 Spike Jonez film Her, in which Johansson plays the voice of an AI bot, saying that the company was “more than a little bit inspired” by the film.

Altman also posted on X the evening after OpenAI’s live demonstration: a simple message that reads simply, “her”.

However, during the weekend after the presentation, OpenAI removed the Sky voice from the platform and posted an article on its website called “How the voices for ChatGPT were chosen.”

“Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better,” states the article in an introductory clarification. The company explains that they cast voice actors and considered 400 submissions of voices before selecting the 5 they decided to use for ChatGPT.

People on social media channels and forums started debating, quickly taking sides on the issue. According to The Washington Post, OpenAI has documents to prove that they didn’t use Johansson’s voice and that it was not requested to find voices that sounded like hers. However, Mitch Glazier, the chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, said that the actress has a strong case if she decides to take legal action.

In regard to the question of how the Sky voice was chosen, Johansson writes, “In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity.”