Scarlett Johansson says that OpenAI asked her to be the voice behind ChatGPT — but that when she declined, the company went ahead and created a voice that sounded just like her. In a , Johansson says that she has now been “forced to hire legal counsel” and has sent two letters to OpenAI inquiring how the soundalike ChatGPT voice, known as Sky, was made. “Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.
0 system,” Johansson writes. She says that Altman contacted her agent as recently as two days before the company first demoed the ChatGPT voice asking for her to reconsider. Altman has made it clear that he admires Johansson’s work.
He’s said that , which features Johansson as an AI voice assistant, is his favorite film; after the ChatGPT event last week, “her,” seemingly in reference to the voice demo the company presented, which featured an assistant that sounded just like Johansson. OpenAI said this morning that it was in order to address questions around “how we chose the voices in ChatGPT.” has reached out to both OpenAI and Johansson for comment.
Johansson said she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief” over how “eerily similar” the voice of Sky sounded to herself. OpenAI said the voice comes from an actor who they hired who is speaking in their normal speaking voice. The company declined to share the actor’s name, citing privacy concerns.
The voice of Sky has been available since Op.
