Scarlett Johansson Thinks OpenAI’s Sam Altman Would Be a Great Marvel Villain

Over a month ago, OpenAI introduced its new, flirty voice assistant named Sky. The voice used for the assistant sounded strikingly similar to Scarlett Johansson, prompting the ‘Black Widow’ star to contact her lawyers.

Johansson disclosed that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had twice requested to license her voice for a virtual assistant, both times met with refusal. Despite her rejections, Johansson asserts that OpenAI used a voice that closely resembles hers for their new assistant.

For Scarlett Johansson, the situation feels like life imitating art. In 2013, she voiced an A.I. system in the movie ‘Her,’ which told the story of a man falling in love with a virtual assistant named Samantha, highlighting the potential dangers of realistic technology. Despite OpenAI distancing itself from accusations of “borrowing” her voice, Sam Altman himself referenced the movie in a social media post with the word “her.”

OpenAI stated it couldn’t disclose the names of its voice professionals for privacy reasons. The company collaborated with unidentified directors and producers to create five voices—Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper, and Sky—recorded last summer in San Francisco. Few people believed their explanation.

In her latest interview with the New York Times, Scarlett Johansson described how surreal it was to find herself at the center of an AI controversy, especially given her efforts to distance herself from such issues.

I had actively avoided being a part of the conversation, which was what made it so disturbing. I was like, ‘How did I get wrapped up in this? It was crazy. I was so angry.

Johansson also issued a warning about the dangers of deepfakes and digital replicas:

It’s like this dark wormhole you can never climb your way out of. […]nce you try to take something down in one area, it pops up somewhere else. There are other countries that have different legislation and rules. If your ex-partner is putting out revenge, deepfake porn, your whole life can be completely ruined.

When asked if Sam Altman would make a good Marvel villain, the ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ star agreed and added a detail:

I guess he would – maybe with a robotic arm.

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