Scarlett Johansson says a ChatGPT voice is ‘eerily similar’ to hers and OpenAI is halting its use

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI says it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that “Her” actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds “eerily similar” to her own. OpenAI said Monday that it is “working to pause” Sky — the name of one of five voices that ChatGPT users can chose to speak with. The company added it had “heard questions” about how it selects the lifelike audio options available for its flagship artificial intelligence chatbot. Among those raising questions was Johansson, who famously voiced a fictional, and at the time futuristic, AI assistant in the 2013 film “Her.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the voice actor behind Sky was cast “before any outreach to Ms. Johansson,” but apologized for not communicating better.