Yesterday we reported that OpenAI has withdrawn the "Sky" voice that can be used in ChatGPT's Voice Mode. Voice Mode is a virtual assistant-like feature that allows users to chat with ChatGPT like a real human. The reason given is because Sky is similar to actress Scarlett Johannson's voice with OpenAI saying any similarities are unintentional.
Earlier this morning, Scarlett Johansson issued a statement that she was sorry to sound like she was being used by OpenAI without permission. According to Johansson, Sam Altman contacted him in September last year to use his voice on ChatGPT 4.0. Altman's invitation was declined but two days before ChatGPT 4.0 was launched, Altman again contacted Johannson's agent for permission.
He was then surprised, angry and upset when he heard Sky's voice demo in ChatGPT 4.0 which was very similar to his voice. Therefore legal action has been taken to have the voice withdrawn and OpenAI has to state whose voice has been used for Sky. OpenAI yesterday said another actor's voice was used but declined to reveal the identity of the individual.
In fact, Altman sent a tweet on X/Twitter on May 14 above that confirmed the connection between Sky's voice and the voice of Samantha's virtual assistant played by Johansson in the 2013 film Her.
OpenAI faces several lawsuits regarding intellectual property infringers. They also declined to say whether Sora who generated the video was trained to use YouTube videos without permission. With Black Widow now entering the ring, the problems facing OpenAI are even more acute.