Scarlett Johansson ‘shocked and angered’ after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice without consent
Scarlett Johansson has said she was “shocked” and “angered” after OpenAI allegedly recreated her voice without her consent for a new ChatGPT system.
The actress released a statement where she personally criticised the company’s CEO Sam Altman for insinuating she was the voice named ‘Sky’ by posting the word ‘her’ on X, a reference to a film where she voiced an AI which a human fell in love with.
“Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system,” the 39-year-old Oscar nominee said.
“He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people.”
She went on to say that eventually for personal reasons she declined his offer then, nine months later, her attention was drawn to how much the “Sky” voice sounded like her.
“When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” Johansson said.
“Mr Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional, tweeting a single word “her” – a reference to the film in which I voiced a chat system, Samantha, who forms an intimate relationship with a human.
“Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there.
“As a result of their actions, I was forced to hire legal counsel, who wrote two letters to Mr Altman and OpenAI, setting out what they had done and asking them to detail the exact process by which they created the ‘Sky’ voice. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the ‘Sky’ voice.”
“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity. I look forward to resolution in the form of transparency and the passage of appropriate legislation to help ensure that individual rights are protected.”
Sam Altman
On Monday OpenAI released a statement saying it would “pause” the use of a ChatGPT voice after users noticed it sounded like the actress.
OpenAI said: “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky.
“We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them.”
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The artificial intelligence (AI) company offers five voices that can speak generated answers through its ChatGPT service.
OpenAI earlier denied it intentionally copied Johansson and said it believed “AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice”.
The New York Times sued OpenAI at the end of last year over allegations it, and its biggest investor Microsoft, unlawfully used the newspaper’s articles to train and create ChatGPT.
The suit alleges that the AI text model now competes with the newspaper as a source of reliable information and threatens the ability of the organisation to provide such a service.
Donald Trump’s administration has installed new plaques beneath portraits of former presidents attacking his predecessors in the US president’s typical fashion.
Among the plaques, apparently written by Mr Trump himself, is one for Joe Biden reading: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst president in American history.”
The “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House features a picture or painting of every former US president – except Mr Biden, who has been replaced by a photo of an autopen.
Biden’s refers to ‘Sleepy Joe’. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden was not mentally capable by the end of his term as president and his staff made decisions on his behalf, using an autopen to sign them off without his knowledge.
The device reproduces a person’s signature, allowing them to repeatedly sign documents without having to do so by hand each time.
The damning decoration goes on to falsely accuse Mr Biden of winning the “most corrupt election ever” and claims he made “unprecedented use of the autopen.”
Obama’s says he presided over a ‘stagnant economy’. Pic: Reuters
Another plaque refers to “Barack Hussein Obama” as “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”
The plaque underneath Bill Clinton’s photo reads: “In 2016, president Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the presidency to President Donald J Trump!”
Even George W Bush, a fellow Republican – though not a Trump supporter – is given a badge of rebuke, with his plaque saying the former president “started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened.”
Bush’s plaque attacks the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pic: Reuters
The “Presidential Walk of Fame” is a recent addition to Mr Trump’s White House and displays the portraits along corridors between the Oval Office and the South Lawn.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the plaques were an “eloquent” description of each president’s legacy.
“As a student of history, many were written directly by the president himself,” she said.
It is the latest change to Mr Trump’s White House, which has seen the increased use of gold-coloured accents and gilded fixtures that mimic the decorations in Trump Tower in New York and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Rob Reiner’s son Nick made his first court appearance on Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.
Wearing a suicide prevention smock and shackles, the 32-year-old did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind the glass wall of a custody area.
His next court appearance will be on 7 January.
As it happened: Nick Reiner makes first court appearance
Nick Reiner makes his first court appearance on murder charges in this courtroom sketch. Pic: Reuters/Mona Edwards
Nick Reiner spoke only to say, “yes, your honour” to agree to the date.
He was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference.
Nick Reiner is being held without bail and could face the death penalty.
Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added a special circumstance of multiple murders, as well as an allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.
Speaking outside the court, Nick Reiner’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, called on the public not to “rush to judgement”.
Mr Jackson pointed to “complex and serious issues that are associated with this case” that needed to be thoroughly and “very carefully dealt with and examined”.
He added that it was a “devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family”.
Rob Reiner, Michele Singer Reiner, Romy Reiner, Nick Reiner, Maria Gilfillan and Jake Reiner. Pic: JanuaryImages/Shutterstock
‘Unimaginable pain’
Nick Reiner’s two siblings Jake and Romy have released a statement, saying “words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day”.
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” they said.
“They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends. We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life.”
The two asked for “respect and privacy” and for speculation to be treated with “compassion and humanity”.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killings.
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles.
The area near Rob Reiner’s home. Pic: AP
Read more from Sky News:
Moment Nick Reiner arrested for murder of his parents
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Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) from the crime scene, according to police.
Rob Reiner was a celebrated director, whose work included some of the most memorable films of the 1980s and 1990s, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men.
He met Michele Singer, a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, in 1989, while directing When Harry Met Sally.
Donald Trump has said the quiet stuff out loud. His Tuesday evening social media post on Venezuela feels like an offload, a dump of thoughts. But it is nonetheless very revealing.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” the US president says.
“It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before…”
That’s a reference to the massive US naval and Air Force presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela. It is indeed an armada, and it’s been there for months now.
On the face of it, it’s all part of an anti-drug mission, to counter the drug trade from Venezuela into America. At least that’s the public messaging. And the missile and drone attacks on suspected drug boats in the region are all part of the play.
And that’s why the second part of his post is particularly interesting, because he now appears to be saying out loud what plenty have suspected all along – that this is actually about regime change, and it is about oil far more than it is about drugs.
He says that the military will remain in place “until such time as they [Venezuela] return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us”.
He continues: “The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping.”
This is a reference to the fact that the US was once a huge importer of Venezuelan oil. American companies based in the country extracted the oil and refineries on the Texan coast processed it. The refineries were adapted over decades to refine the thick, heavy crude that is typical of Venezuela.
The process was big business for American firms until Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez in the 2000s, nationalised the foreign oil assets.
Read more:
The US-Venezuela crisis explained
Trump wants all that back – the oil, the revenue, the influence. So all this, it seems clear now, is about oil, and it is about spheres of influence – hemispheres. Trump is determined to assert American control over the western hemisphere.
The ultimate ambition it seems is threefold:
• To remove the Maduro regime and support a friendly, compliant government;
• To seize control of the oil, through commercial partnerships, not force;
• And to stop any drug and people smuggling into the US.
With this latest social post, Trump has now said all that out loud. Interesting days ahead are certain.
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