Sam Altman Repeatedly Tried to Get ScarJo to Work With OpenAI: Report

OpenAI boss Sam Altman made multiple attempts to get Scarlett Johansson to work with the company, according to a report, before releasing a new voice assistant tool that the actress accused of sounding “eerily similar” to her own voice. The artificial intelligence behemoth shelved the use of the digital assistant voice named “Sky” after Johansson expressed her anger and “disbelief” at its resemblance to her voice. According to The Wall Street Journal, Altman had spent months making unsuccessful bids to land Johansson—who played the voice of an AI assistant in the film Her—to work with OpenAI and be the voice of its new assistant feature. After the actress declined the offer in September, Altman then contacted her agent Bryan Lourd in mid-May asking if she would reconsider, according to the Journal. Lourd then reportedly made an “urgent” call to Altman last week following the demo of Sky that ignited the row. The Journal described Altman as being “incredulous” that Johansson thought the digital assistant sounded like herself.