OpenAI pulls voice that sounds like Scarlett Johansson, says it wasn’t intentional

Kat Tenbarge
Updated ·2 min read
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OpenAI said Monday that it is pausing use of a voice in its projects that many people have compared to Scarlett Johansson's in the sci-fi dystopia movie “Her.”

The company said in a post on X that it was “working to pause” the use of “Sky,” the voice that resembles Johansson’s, while it addresses “questions” about how it was selected.

In a blog post Sunday, OpenAI wrote: “We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice — Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.” The company said it would not reveal the actor’s identity to protect privacy.

Since September, OpenAI has allowed users to interface with its popular chatbot ChatGPT using a variety of voices. The chatbot can respond via text or with one of six audio voices, including “Sky,” which the company says were cast and recorded by a team of professional actors.

But after OpenAI’s product demonstrations on May 13, when it showed off interactions with the voices using the new GPT-4o, which it says is more user-friendly and natural, comparisons between Sky and Johansson went viral. Even OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman played up the comparison between Sky and Johansson, tweeting “her” on May 13, the day OpenAI demonstrated the voices and other new features. The apparent nod to the movie drew criticism. “Her” is a movie about a romantic relationship between a human and a feminine artificial intelligence named Samantha.

Reactions to the decision to pause the use of the voice have been varied.

The move comes after a tumultuous week at OpenAI. Last week, CNBC reported that the company had dissolved its team dedicated to researching the long-term safety effects of AI shortly after two of the team leaders resigned and made public statements that were critical of the company. Despite the setbacks, OpenAI is moving ahead with more planned consumer-facing AI products, including a new version of its voice mode that it says will allow group conversations.

CORRECTION (May 21, 2024, 4:20 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article’s headline and deck misspelled Scarlett Johansson’s last name. It is Johansson, not Johannson.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com