May 23, 2024 01:35 PM IST
Sam Altman responded in a statement that OpenAI “never intended” the Sky voice to resemble Scarlett Johansson.
OpenAI paused use of Sky in ChatGPT and detailed the process of developing five different AI voices after Scarlett Johansson alleged that OpenAI copied her voice after she refused a request by CEO Sam Altman to license it. Sam Altman responded in a statement that OpenAI “never intended” the Sky voice to resemble Scarlett Johansson. A voice actor had been cast before he contacted her, he said.
Read more: OpenAI’s Sam Altman says AI is ‘safe enough’ after Scarlett Johansson row
A report in The Washington Post claimed that when “OpenAI issued a casting call last year for a secret project to endow OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT with a human voice, the flier had several requests: The actors should be nonunion. They should sound between 25 and 45 years old.”
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Later an actress was hired to create the Sky voice months before Sam Altman contacted Scarlett Johansson, the report claimed citing documents, recordings and casting directors.
The agent said that the actress confirmed was not Scarlett Johansson and the name Sky was chosen to signal a cool, airy and pleasant sound, as per the report.
Read more: Scarlett Johansson vs OpenAI: Actor hired lawyers to push back against Sam Altman company. Here’s why
Joanne Jang, who leads AI model behavior for OpenAI, said that the company selected actors who were eager to work and played a sample AI version of their voice to demonstrate how realistic the technology could sound.
The voice over artist said, as per the report, “[W]hile that was unknown and honestly kinda scary territory for me as a conventional voice over actor, it is an inevitable step toward the wave of the future.”
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