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The Onion’s Take on the OpenAI–Scarlett Johansson Voice Controversy Is Satire

By Freedom251 Team · · 2 min read

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The Onion’s joke about Scarlett Johansson endorsing OpenAI is a deliberately fake endorsement, not a real video or evidence that she approved of the company’s ChatGPT voice. Its absurd premise lampoons the dispute over Sky, a voice option that observers said sounded like Johansson.

What The Onion’s headline is joking about

Futurism’s May 24, 2024 article reproduced The Onion headline: “Jerky, 7-Fingered Scarlett Johansson Appears In Video To Express Full-Fledged Approval Of OpenAI.” The deliberately misshapen, seven-fingered Johansson and fabricated endorsement are part of the joke. The headline does not describe an actual video, and Johansson did not thereby express approval of OpenAI.

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The gag turns the controversy on its head: rather than address concerns about a voice resembling Johansson, it imagines an unmistakably artificial version of her publicly endorsing the company.

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Why ChatGPT’s Sky voice became controversial

OpenAI introduced GPT-4o with several AI voice options, including Sky. Futurism reported that observers thought Sky sounded similar to Johansson. The issue was not simply that a voice option sounded familiar; Johansson said OpenAI had approached her about licensing her voice and that she declined.

Johansson described her reaction this way, as quoted by Futurism: “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.”

Johansson’s account and OpenAI’s response

Johansson’s statement and OpenAI’s position are competing accounts, not a settled finding about what happened. According to Futurism, OpenAI said Sky was voiced by another actress and denied copying Johansson’s voice. Johansson’s account was that the company had sought permission to license her voice, she had refused, and Sky nevertheless sounded strikingly like her.

Futurism’s article recounts those statements; it does not independently establish who voiced Sky, whether anyone intended to imitate Johansson, or whether her consent was required or obtained. The joke in The Onion’s headline is not evidence resolving those questions.

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What Altman’s “her” post meant—and what is known

On the GPT-4o launch date, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted the single word “her.” Futurism read it as a likely reference to Johansson’s role in the film Her, in which an AI assistant is voiced by her. That is the article’s interpretation, not a verified explanation of Altman’s intent.

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Does the article establish a legal outcome?

No. Futurism’s May 24, 2024 coverage explains the dispute and the parties’ reported statements, but it does not establish legal liability or report a court outcome. It should be read as an account of the controversy and its satire, not as a legal finding.

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AI voiceChatGPTGPT-4oOpenAIScarlett JohanssonThe Onion

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