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OpenAI paused ChatGPT’s Sky voice in May 2024 after Scarlett Johansson said it sounded eerily like her, following her refusal to voice the assistant. OpenAI denies that Sky was Johansson’s voice or was designed to imitate her, and says the actor was cast before the company contacted Johansson. The available public accounts do not establish whose interpretation is correct or show a court finding on the dispute.
What happened to ChatGPT’s Sky voice?
Sky was one of the voices OpenAI introduced for ChatGPT. After a GPT-4o demonstration on May 13, 2024, listeners compared Sky with Johansson’s performance as the artificial intelligence assistant in Her. On May 20, OpenAI said it was working to pause Sky while it addressed questions about the voice’s selection, and later said it had paused the voice and apologized for poor communication. OpenAI’s account and contemporaneous Associated Press reporting describe the sequence.
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What each side says
Johansson’s account
Johansson said she had declined an invitation to voice ChatGPT. She said she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief” when she heard the demonstration and believed the voice was eerily similar to hers. She said she hired legal counsel and that lawyers sent letters seeking information about how the voice was developed. These are Johansson’s reported statements, not judicial findings.
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OpenAI’s account
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better.” OpenAI also said the actor was a different professional actress and declined to identify her publicly for privacy reasons.
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Timeline of the dispute
- June–July 2023: OpenAI says five selected voice actors recorded in San Francisco.
- September 25, 2023: OpenAI says those voices, including Sky, launched in ChatGPT.
- September 11, 2023: OpenAI says Altman spoke with Johansson and her team about her potentially becoming an additional voice.
- About a week later: OpenAI says Johansson declined through her agent.
- May 10, 2024: OpenAI says Altman’s team again asked whether Johansson would participate in the upcoming GPT-4o launch.
- May 13, 2024: OpenAI demonstrated GPT-4o, prompting comparisons between Sky and Johansson.
- May 20, 2024: OpenAI announced it was pausing Sky; Johansson publicly described her objection and legal correspondence.
The dates and casting sequence above are OpenAI’s published chronology. Johansson’s statement supplies a competing account of how the voice sounded and how the outreach affected her.
What is established—and what remains disputed?
| Question | What is established | What is not established |
|---|---|---|
| Was Sky a ChatGPT voice? | Yes. OpenAI identified Sky as one of ChatGPT’s voices. | — |
| Was Sky paused? | OpenAI said it paused use after the public controversy. | — |
| Did Johansson agree to voice ChatGPT? | OpenAI says she declined its first approach; Johansson said she had declined an invitation. | The full private communications are not public. |
| Was Sky Johansson’s recorded voice? | OpenAI says it was not. | No public independent technical finding in the cited sources settles the issue. |
| Was Sky intentionally modeled on Johansson? | OpenAI denies that intention. | The cited sources do not prove or disprove creative intent. |
| Was there a court ruling? | None is identified in the cited material. | August 2026 reporting said Johansson had not filed a lawsuit and no ruling had been issued; that status depends on that secondary report. |
Why the casting order matters
OpenAI’s central defense is chronological: it says the Sky actor was selected and recorded in June and July 2023, before its September 2023 outreach to Johansson and its further May 2024 request. That sequence, if accurate, supports OpenAI’s claim that Sky was not created after Johansson rejected an offer. It does not by itself answer whether listeners reasonably perceived a resemblance or whether creative direction was influenced by another performance.
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- ONE-TAP RECORDING FOR REAL-LIFE MOMENTS: Capture meetings, phone calls, and in-person conversations instantly with a simple tap, no typing, no interruptions, just effortless note-taking anywhere you go.
- SMART AI INSIGHTS & ORGANIZATION: Pocket automatically turns recordings into clear summaries, key action items and structured conversation maps so you can quickly review what matters without digging through audio.
- TURN CONVERSATIONS INTO ACTION WITH “ASK POCKET”: Don’t just record, understand. Instantly ask questions across your meetings, extract key insights and generate next steps in seconds. All grounded in your recordings, so answers stay accurate and reliable.
- MAGSAFE COMPATIBLE FOR SEAMLESS USE: Easily attach Pocket to your iPhone or other MagSafe compatible devices for convenient, hands-free recording on the go. Perfect for capturing meetings, calls, and ideas without needing to hold your device.
Does this prove a legal violation?
No. General media coverage has discussed possible rights-of-publicity theories, but those rights vary by jurisdiction and the cited sources do not establish a filed case, a judicial ruling, or legal liability. A perceived vocal resemblance and the deliberate commercial use of a person’s identity are legally distinct questions. The available statements should therefore be treated as party positions rather than a legal conclusion.
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OpenAI said it paused Sky out of respect for Johansson while addressing the questions around its selection. The company’s public explanation did not identify the actor, citing privacy, and did not announce a finding that Sky was Johansson’s voice. The pause was a product decision made amid the dispute, not a court-ordered removal.
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Why the story remains unresolved
The public record contains a clear sequence of events and two incompatible interpretations: Johansson described an unexpectedly close sound after turning down an invitation, while OpenAI described an independently cast actor and denied imitation. Without disclosed production records, an independent voice analysis, or a court determination, readers should not convert either account into a proven fact.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The Bottom Line
OpenAI removed Sky from ChatGPT after Scarlett Johansson challenged its resemblance to her. OpenAI says the voice was performed by another actress, cast before it contacted Johansson, and never intended to sound like her. The cited public sources leave intent and legal responsibility unresolved.
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