OpenAI halts ChatGPT voice amid controversy over similarity to Scarlett Johansson

OpenAI is discontinuing one of its ChatGPT voices after users noted its similarity to Scarlett Johansson’s voice. The company announced this decision on Monday, following Johansson’s statement that she had hired legal counsel to investigate the development of the Sky voice. OpenAI had showcased Sky in a recent demo of its new GPT-4o model, but the voice is now being paused.

In a blog post, OpenAI clarified that Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Johansson, but rather that of a different professional actress using her natural voice. The company emphasized its stance against deliberately mimicking celebrities’ voices and cited privacy concerns for not disclosing the voice actors' names.

The demo video circulated widely on social media, with many users comparing the voice to Johansson’s and critiquing its flirtatious tone, drawing parallels to her role in the 2013 film ‘Her,’ where she voiced a seductive virtual assistant.

Say hello to GPT-4o, our new flagship model which can reason across audio, vision, and text in real time: https://t.co/MYHZB79UqN

Text and image input rolling out today in API and ChatGPT with voice and video in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/uuthKZyzYx

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 13, 2024

Although OpenAI has not directly compared Sky’s voice to Johansson’s, CEO Sam Altman hinted at the connection by tweeting ‘Her’ after the event. According to TechCrunch, Johansson later confirmed that OpenAI had approached her in September to supply the voice. She declined and was surprised to hear the demo, prompting her to hire legal counsel. She stated that OpenAI reluctantly agreed to modify the Sky voice.

OpenAI’s intention with the demo was to highlight the chatbot’s improved conversational skills, but it went viral due to the sultry tone of the Sky voice. The chatbot made flirtatious comments during the demo, which included giggling and playful remarks.

OpenAI expressed in its blog post that it aims for its chatbots’ voices to be “approachable” and “inspire trust,” with a “warm, engaging, confidence-inspiring, charismatic voice.” Moving forward, OpenAI plans to introduce a variety of voices to better cater to the diverse preferences of its users.