What to know
- OpenAI has paused the use of ChatGPT’s Sky’s voice following a statement by Scarlett Johansson expressing “disbelief” at the eerie likeness between Sky’s voice and her own.
- OpenAI claims that Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson. But until the matter is resolved, Sky remains on hold.
Remember that ChatGPT voice, Sky? Turns out it caused quite a stir! Some folks thought it sounded a lot like Scarlett Johansson — because it did. But can you believe it? Naturally, Scarlett herself wasn’t too thrilled, especially since she had turned down lending her voice to the project.
OpenAI quickly clarified that they didn’t mean to copy anyone’s voice and that Sky actually belonged to another actress (a secret one!). But what’s up with the Voice right now?
What Happened to ChatGPT’s Sky Voice?
OpenAI has now removed the widely popular ‘Sky’ voice from its ChatGPT’s Voice Mode feature. This comes soon after Scarlett Johansson, whose voice has been compared to the ‘Sky’ voice, accused OpenAI of using her voice even after she had twice declined licensing her voice for the company’s AI assistant.
her
— Sam Altman (@sama) May 13, 2024
OpenAI has since pushed back against the accusations, stating in a recent blog that “Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.” But while the case is still hot, the company has put the voice on hold, perhaps indefinitely.
In the blog post, OpenAI also stated that they “cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson.”
Will ‘Sky’ return to ChatGPT?
Those who were particularly enamored by the ‘Sky’ voice on ChatGPT are understandably upset by its removal from the app. There’s no denying that there exists some similarities between Sky’s voice and Scarlett Johansson’s. But it’s also no secret that Sam Altman was heavily inspired by the actress’s 2013 movie Her.
So unless OpenAI can address questions about how they chose the voices for ChatGPT’s Voice Mode, it’s highly unlikely that we will hear Sky again. Until that time, fans have started a petition to bring Sky back. Make your voice heard.
