OpenAI on Monday said it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that 含羞草研究社淗er含羞草研究社� actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds 含羞草研究社渆erily similar含羞草研究社� to her own.

In a on the social media platform X, OpenAI said it is 含羞草研究社渨orking to pause含羞草研究社� Sky 含羞草研究社� the name of one of five voices that ChatGPT users can chose to speak with. The company said it had 含羞草研究社渉eard questions含羞草研究社� about how it selects the lifelike audio options available for its flagship artificial intelligence chatbot, particularly Sky, and wanted to address them.

Among those raising questions was Johansson, who famously voiced a fictional, and at the time futuristic, AI assistant in the 2013 film

Johansson issued a statement saying that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had approached her in September asking her if she would lend her voice to the system, saying he felt it would be 含羞草研究社渃omforting to people含羞草研究社� not at ease with the technology. She said she declined the offer.

含羞草研究社淲hen 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,含羞草研究社� Johansson said.

She said OpenAI 含羞草研究社渞eluctantly含羞草研究社� agreed to take down the Sky voice after she hired lawyers who wrote Altman letters asking about the process by which the company came up with the voice.

OpenAI had moved to debunk the internet含羞草研究社檚 theories about Johansson in a blog post accompanying its earlier announcement aimed at detailing how ChatGPT含羞草研究社檚 voices were chosen. The company that it believed AI voices 含羞草研究社渟hould not deliberately mimic a celebrity含羞草研究社檚 distinctive voice含羞草研究社� and that the voice of Sky belongs to a 含羞草研究社渄ifferent professional actress.含羞草研究社� But it added that it could not share the name of that professional for privacy reasons.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press following Johansson含羞草研究社檚 response late Monday, Altman said that OpenAI cast the voice actor behind Sky 含羞草研究社渂efore any outreach含羞草研究社� to Johansson.

含羞草研究社淭he voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson含羞草研究社檚, and it was never intended to resemble hers,含羞草研究社� Altman said. 含羞草研究社淥ut of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky含羞草研究社檚 voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn含羞草研究社檛 communicate better.含羞草研究社�

San Francisco-based OpenAI first rolled out voice capabilities for ChatGPT, which included the five different voices, in September, allowing users to engage in back-to-forth conversation with the AI assistant. 含羞草研究社淰oice Mode含羞草研究社� was originally just available to paid subscribers, but in November, OpenAI that the feature would become free for all users with the mobile app.

And ChatGPT含羞草研究社檚 interactions are becoming more and more sophisticated. Last week, OpenAI said the can mimic human cadences in its verbal responses and can even try to detect people含羞草研究社檚 moods.

OpenAI says the newest model, dubbed GPT-4o, works faster than previous versions and can reason across text, audio and video in real time. In a demonstration during OpenAI含羞草研究社檚 May 13 announcement, the AI bot chatted in real time, adding emotion 含羞草研究社� specifically 含羞草研究社渕ore drama含羞草研究社� 含羞草研究社� to its voice as requested. It also took a stab at extrapolating a person含羞草研究社檚 emotional state by looking at a selfie video of their face, aided in language translations, step-by-step math problems and more.

GPT-4o, short for 含羞草研究社渙mni,含羞草研究社� isn含羞草研究社檛 widely available yet. It will progressively make its way to select users in the coming weeks and months. The model含羞草研究社檚 text and image capabilities have already begun rolling out, and is set to reach even some of those that use ChatGPT含羞草研究社檚 free tier 含羞草研究社� but the new voice mode will just be available for paid subscribers of ChatGPT Plus.

While most have yet to get their hands on these newly announced features, the capabilities have conjured up even more comparisons to the Spike Jonze含羞草研究社檚 dystopian romance 含羞草研究社淗er,含羞草研究社� which follows an introverted man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with an AI-operating system (Johansson), leading to many complications.

Altman appeared to tap into this, too 含羞草研究社� simply the word 含羞草研究社渉er含羞草研究社� on the social media platform X the day of GPT-4o含羞草研究社檚 unveiling.

Many reacting to the model含羞草研究社檚 demos last week also found some of the interactions struck a strangely flirtatious tone. In one posted by OpenAI, a female-voiced ChatGPT compliments a company employee on 含羞草研究社渞ocking an OpenAI hoodie,含羞草研究社� for example, and in another the chatbot 含羞草研究社渙h stop it, you含羞草研究社檙e making me blush含羞草研究社� after being told that it含羞草研究社檚 amazing.

That含羞草研究社檚 sparked some conversation on the gendered ways critics say tech companies have long used to develop and engage voice assistants 含羞草研究社� dating back far before the latest wave of generative AI advanced the capabilities of AI chatbots. In 2019, the United Nations含羞草研究社� culture and science organization built into default female-voiced assistants (like Apple含羞草研究社檚 Siri to Amazon含羞草研究社檚 Alexa), even when confronted with sexist insults and harassment.

含羞草研究社淭his is clearly programmed to feed dudes含羞草研究社� egos,含羞草研究社� The Daily Show senior correspondent Desi Lydic said of GPT-4o in a segment last week. 含羞草研究社淵ou can really tell that a man built this tech.含羞草研究社�

Wyatte Grantham-philips, The Associated Press