View gallery
Scarlett Johansson spoke out in opposition to OpenAI after the corporate appeared to repeat her voice for his or her new “Sky” voice program in a brand new assertion shared on Monday, Could 20. The assertion was shared on social media by NPR tech correspondent Bobby Allyn. All through the assertion, the actress, 39, revealed that Open AI CEO Sam Altman, 39, had reached out to have her be the voice of this system, however she declined. Now that the similarity was evident, she introduced that she was taking authorized motion.
Scarlett revealed that the tech entrepreneur had reached out to her in regards to the challenge and supplied his reasoning why, however she stated no. “He advised me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I might bridge the hole between tech firms and creatives and assist customers really feel comfy with the seismic shift regarding people and AI. He stated he felt that my voice could be comforting to individuals,” she stated. “After a lot consideration and for private causes, I declined the provide.”
Assertion from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI scenario. Wow: pic.twitter.com/8ibMeLfqP8
— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn) Could 20, 2024
Scarlett stated that after declining the provide, she had a number of individuals level out the similarities to her, and he or she stated when she heard it she stated that she was “shocked, angered, and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily much like mine that my closest mates and information shops couldn’t inform the distinction.” She additionally famous that he had “insinuated” the similarity by tweeting “Her,” a reference to Scarlett’s position within the 2013 film of the identical title.
The Misplaced in Translation actress continued and stated that shortly earlier than this system was launched, Sam contacted her agent to ask her to “rethink” his provide, however earlier than she might reply, the software program was on the market. She stated that after the discharge, she was pressured to hunt counsel.
On the finish of her assertion, Scarlett emphasised holding management over your likeness and he or she hopes to verify there may be laws that clearly spells out the legal guidelines on this. “In a time once we are all grappling with deepfakes and the safety of our personal likeness, our personal work, our personal identities, I imagine these are questions that deserve absolute readability,” she wrote.
Whereas OpenAI pulled the “Sky” software program over the weekend, the corporate did launch a weblog put up clarifying that they weren’t making an attempt to imitate any particular voice. “We imagine that AI voices shouldn’t intentionally mimic a star’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice is just not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson however belongs to a special skilled actress utilizing her personal pure talking voice,” they wrote.
After Scarlett spoke out, her MCU co-star Mark Ruffalo confirmed assist in a put up on X (previously Twitter). “That is only the start. Time to exit and hug a tree,” he wrote.