OpenAI presented on May 13th its new multimodal model GPT-4o, the improved version of GPT-4. One of the features that has caught the most attention of GPT-4o is its voice mode, which allows us to “speak” with the model. During the presentation, OpenAI showcased Sky, one of the synthetic voices that we can choose within ChatGPT. Many rushed to point out its resemblance to Samantha, the synthetic voice that appears in the movie Her. In fact, it is so similar that OpenAI could face legal consequences for it.
Certainly, the resemblance is not a coincidence. Moments before the presentation, even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself made references to the movie in his X profile.
After receiving a multitude of criticism for Sky’s excessive resemblance to Scarlett’s voice, OpenAI removed the voice from ChatGPT. However, this has not stopped the actress from speaking out about the issue and confirming that she received an offer from Sam Altman to lend her voice to this version of GPT. Scarlett explains that she declined the offer and that she is angry that Altman “pursued a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine“.
Although Scarlett has not filed any lawsuit against OpenAI yet, she is receiving legal advice. Last Monday, the actress stated that she had hired a lawyer to demand explanations from OpenAI regarding the creation of Sky. In response, the company has defended itself by claiming that they did not intend for that voice to sound like Scarlett’s.
After erasing all traces of Sky, OpenAI published on its website a statement explaining in detail the methodology they have followed to create the voices that make up ChatGPT (Breeze, Cove, Juniper, Ember, and the controversial Sky). There we can read that Sky was created from the voice of a professional actress, reiterating its apparent “innocence”.
Source: The Verge
