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Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI asked her to voice ChatGPT in 2023 and she declined. Months later, she said the chatbot’s “Sky” voice sounded eerily similar to her own and to her performance as an AI assistant in Her. OpenAI denied that Sky was designed to imitate her, said a different actor had been selected before it approached Johansson, and paused the voice after her lawyers sought an explanation. The public record does not establish that OpenAI copied Johansson’s recordings or that a court ruled on the dispute.
What Johansson said happened
In a statement reported on May 20, 2024, Johansson said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approached her in September 2023 about voicing ChatGPT. She declined for personal reasons. She said Altman contacted her again on May 10, 2024, shortly before OpenAI’s GPT-4o presentation, to ask whether she would reconsider.
After GPT-4o was introduced on May 13, Johansson said she was shocked and angered by Sky, one of ChatGPT’s voices, because it sounded “eerily similar” to her voice. She said she had hired legal counsel and that her lawyers sent OpenAI two letters asking how the voice had been created. She also connected the episode to wider concerns about consent and safeguards for artists whose voices, images, or work may be replicated in AI products. NPR reported on Johansson’s statement and the legal requests.
That account is not a court finding. The careful distinction is that Johansson objected to a voice she considered remarkably like hers; the available public evidence does not prove that OpenAI used her recordings or instructed anyone to imitate her.
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OpenAI’s account—and the chronology it offered
OpenAI’s response was that Sky was voiced by a different professional actor, selected before the company contacted Johansson, and was not intended to resemble her. The company said it does not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice. It did not identify the actor, citing voice-talent privacy.
OpenAI’s published timeline says casting work began in early 2023. By May, an initial group of 14 actors had been reviewed and narrowed; selected actors recorded in San Francisco in June and July. OpenAI says the five voices, including Sky, launched on September 25, 2023. Its account places Altman’s conversation with Johansson and her team on September 11, after the casting process was under way. It says he contacted her team again on May 10, 2024, to ask whether she might reconsider. OpenAI’s explanation of how ChatGPT’s voices were chosen sets out that chronology and the company’s denial.
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The timeline is relevant to OpenAI’s position, but it does not settle every question about how Sky was developed or how listeners perceive it. The actor’s identity and the full internal development record were not made public in the sources available for this account.
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Why listeners connected Sky with Her
Johansson played Samantha, an AI assistant, in the 2013 film Her. When OpenAI presented GPT-4o, its voice demonstration showed an assistant responding in an expressive, conversational style. Listeners compared Sky with Johansson’s voice and her performance in the film. Altman then posted the word “her” on X after the presentation, a reference widely read as pointing to the film.
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That post helped intensify the association, but it is not technical evidence that Sky was designed to sound like Johansson. OpenAI’s formal explanation denied that intention. A resemblance noticed by listeners, an actor’s natural vocal qualities, a directed imitation, and a synthetic voice made from a person’s recordings are different possibilities; evidence for one does not automatically establish another.
Why Sky was paused
OpenAI said it paused Sky on May 19, 2024, while it addressed questions about the voice-selection process. The company said it did so out of respect for Johansson and apologized for not communicating better. The pause followed her objections and her lawyers’ requests for information. It was not, by itself, an admission that OpenAI had copied her voice or acted unlawfully. The company described the action as a pause; it should not be characterized as a permanent termination without a source establishing that status.
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What the public record does—and does not—establish
| Supported by the public accounts | Not established by the reviewed sources |
|---|---|
| Johansson says OpenAI offered her a ChatGPT voice role in 2023 and she declined. | That Sky was trained on Johansson’s recordings or created by cloning them. |
| Johansson later objected to Sky as eerily similar to her voice. | That OpenAI directed the actor to imitate Johansson. |
| OpenAI says Sky was performed by another actor chosen before its outreach to Johansson and denies intentional imitation. | That a court found infringement, a right-of-publicity violation, or false endorsement. |
| OpenAI paused Sky and apologized for its communication. | That Johansson filed a lawsuit, received a settlement, or obtained a particular legal remedy. |
In short, this dispute is about an alleged likeness and the risk of a recognizable soundalike—not a demonstrated finding that Johansson’s actual audio was used. OpenAI’s account is also a party’s account, not an independent adjudication. Neither side’s public statements resolve the underlying legal questions.
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A voice can function as part of a person’s identity, even though the legal treatment of voice likeness varies by jurisdiction. Depending on the facts and applicable law, a dispute over a soundalike could raise questions about publicity rights, whether listeners might mistakenly think a person endorsed or participated in a product, contractual permissions, and the use of recorded performances. Those are possible legal issues, not findings about Johansson’s case.
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It also matters how a voice was made. A professional actor whose natural voice resembles a celebrity’s is not automatically the same as an actor deliberately directed to imitate that person, a voice-conversion system, or a model trained or fine-tuned on the celebrity’s recordings. Each raises distinct questions about consent and evidence. The fact that a company used a different actor would not, on its own, answer whether a performance was intentionally made to evoke a particular person; likewise, resemblance alone does not prove copying or intent.
The practical stakes extend to voice actors and users. Clear agreements can define where and how a recorded voice may be used, whether it can be modified or used to generate new speech, and what compensation or withdrawal terms apply. For users, a familiar-sounding assistant may imply a celebrity’s participation or endorsement when none exists. The Johansson dispute did not settle how existing laws apply to AI voices, but it made the difference between permission to use a voice and the public perception of a voice impossible to ignore.
Bottom line
Johansson says she turned down OpenAI’s offer, then heard a ChatGPT voice that felt strikingly like her own and sought answers through lawyers. OpenAI says Sky was independently cast, was not meant to imitate her, and was paused out of respect. The controversy established a serious disagreement about likeness and consent—not that OpenAI cloned Johansson’s voice or that a court found it liable.
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