OpenAI is—once again—in trouble for not respecting boundaries, this time for allegedly ripping off Scarlett Johansson’s voice after she rejected a collaboration offer from CEO Sam Altman.

OpenAI released its latest AI model, GPT-4o, offering real-time conversation and significantly enhanced features over GPT-4. Journalists, users, and critics recognized that GPT-4o’s “Sky” voice sounded eerily like Johansson’s voice from the movie Her, in which she played a sentient AI.

Johansson has released a statement, slamming Altman and company for copying her voice despite her turning down the company’s collaboration offer. Just days before the release of the new AI model, Altman reached out to Johansson’s agent, asking the actress to reconsider.

When the new AI and its “Sky” voice was demoed, Altman sent a tweet that seemed to indicate the company had intentionally mimicked Johansson’s voice.

her

— Sam Altman (@sama) | May 13, 2024

Only after the actress involved attorneys, who demanded OpenAI reveal how it came up with the “Sky” voice, did OpenAI decide to drop the voice altogether.

OpenAI Is Losing Its Way

OpenAI was founded on the promise of responsible AI development amid concerns the technology could represent an existential threat to humanity. In the last couple of years, however, OpenAI has been increasingly losing its way, with Altman receiving much of the blame.

• The company’s board fired Altman, citing concerns that he was rushing to commercialize AI at the expense of safety.
• The safety team responsible for evaluating the threat AI poses has disbanded, with one of the team’s co-leads slamming the company for not supporting the team with the needed resources, and for ‘safety culture and processing taking a backseat to shiny products.’
• A member of the company’s governance team resigned “due to losing confidence that it would behave responsibly around the time of AGI.”
• OpenAI is facing a lawsuit from multiple news outlets alleging copyright infringement.
• Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has slammed the company for using YouTube content without authorization and against the terms of service.

With the company now essentially getting caught ripping off Johansson’s voice, an image is emerging of the hottest company in tech being so obsessed with driving AI forward that it’s not stopping to consider the legal, moral, or ethical implications of its decisions, seemingly believing the old adage that “might makes right.”

It’s time for OpenAI and its leadership to grow up and live up to the original promise and act in a responsible manner.

Scarlett Johansson’s Statement In Full:

Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He Said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.

After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer. Nine months later, my friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named “Sky” sounded like me.

When I heard the released emo, 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. Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word “here” — a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.

Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there.

As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr. Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the “Sky” voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the “Sky” voice.

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. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.