Benzinga - by Rounak Jain, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Tech billionaire and xAI founder Elon Musk criticized OpenAI for mimicking actor Scarlett Johansson's voice, calling it "obviously a ripoff."
What Happened: Johansson hired a lawyer to prevent OpenAI from using an imitation of her voice in GPT-4o. Afterward, Musk called out the Microsoft Corp.-backed (NASDAQ:MSFT) company.
On Tuesday, Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his displeasure with OpenAI. The company's latest AI model, GPT-4o, which can reason across audio, vision, and text, has been found using a mimicked version of Johansson’s voice.
“Yeah, it's obviously a ripoff. They were literally bragging about it," said Musk, referring to a recent incident where Johansson hired legal counsel against OpenAI over the replication of her voice without permission.
Yeah, it's obviously a ripoff. They were literally bragging about it.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 21, 2024
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It was revealed that Johansson was approached by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to lend her voice to the company’s AI-powered chatbot. After declining the offer, she discovered that her voice was still being used by OpenAI.
Why It Matters: Musk’s criticism of OpenAI’s GPT-4o is significant in the context of the ongoing debate around AI ethics and intellectual property rights.
The AI model’s alleged imitation of Johansson’s voice has sparked legal action, raising questions about the responsibility of AI developers to respect the rights of individuals.
OpenAI, on its part, has denied that it imitated Johansson's voice, saying it actually belongs to a "different professional actress." The company, however, did not reveal the actress' name to "protect their privacy."
This incident also highlights the potential impact of AI advancements on the entertainment industry. The use of AI replicas of actors’ voices, as seen in the case of Johansson, could have far-reaching implications for the future of film and television production.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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