Scarlett Johansson/Taylor Hill/WireImage
Popular Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has accused the company OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman of using her voice without permission for a new AI-based model called Sky.
She refused to participate in the project several times. This was reported by The Wrap, which published the artist's statement.
According to Johansson, in September of last year, she received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire her to voice over the ChatGPT 4.0 system. >Then the founder of OpenAI Altman told the actress that, in his opinion, by voicing the system, it will “help bridge the gap between technology companies and users” and help people “feel more comfortable” using a voice assistant.
Johansson declined the offer “after much thought and for personal reasons”, and two days before the release of the ChatGPT 4.0 demo, Altman contacted the actress again, asking if she had reconsidered her decision. Johansson is convinced that the system was introduced “before her team had time to respond to the message”. After the presentation of the system, “friends, family and the general public” noticed that Sky's assistant sounded similar to Johansson.
Mr. Altman even hinted that this was a deliberate similarity, tweeting the single word “she” – a reference to the film in which I voiced Samantha, a neural network that establishes an intimate relationship with a human… As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAl, describing what they had done and asking them to explain in detail the process by which they created the voice of Sky, the actress emphasized.
In the end, OpenAl “reluctantly agreed” to remove Sky's voice. Although for his part, Sam Altman assured that the voice of Sky “does not belong to Scarlett Johansson, and was never intended to sound like her voice”.
At a time when we all struggle with deepfakes and the protection of one's likeness, one's work, one's identity, I believe that these issues deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to a solution in the form of transparency and the adoption of appropriate legislation that will help ensure the protection of individual rights, added Johansson.
Scarlett Johansson/Screen from the movie