Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker has opened up about the recent controversy between OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson. In the latest row, the CEO of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup maker of ChatGPT, Sam Altman, has reportedly asked Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson to lend her voice to the company’s AI assistant. The company then reportedly released a voice for its product that sounded similar to the actor’s after Johansson’s refusal.
Read what Signal’s CEO had to say about the OpenAI scandal
In an interview with TechCrunch, the CEO of WhatsApp rival Signal accused the artificial intelligence company of having a “dorm room” culture when asked about the controversy.
Whittaker said: “It’s just like… the ‘Edge Lord’ bullshit.” This is so disrespectful. It’s so unnecessary. And it really tears apart the veil of this mythology that you’re all sedate people at the top of science, building the next God, when it’s very clear that the culture is academic lunacy, perpetuated by a group of “yes men” who think every joke that you say, it’s humorous because they get paid to do it, and no one around here takes that leadership by the shoulders and says, “What the hell are you doing!?”
Earlier this week, Whittaker also reached out to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to respond to an account that reposted Johansson’s statement accusing OpenAI of frauding her vote.
She said: “The lack of respect for edgelords, the lack of professionalism, the strategic errors typical of real decision-making in the AI industry speak infinitely louder than all voluntary security assurances. In fact, these assurances mainly serve to emphasize how far the walk is from the conversation.”
Last week, OpenAI announced its “Sky” AI voice option along with its latest GPT-4o multilingual model. Since its release, ChatGPT users have started noticing the voice’s similarity to Johansson’s. The voice sounded similar to her voice in the 2013 film “Her”, in which the actor played an AI assistant with whom the main character fell in love.
In a statement, Johansson alleged that Altman approached her about voicing Sky, which she declined.
In a blog post, OpenAI CEO Altman said the company did not intend for Sky’s voice to resemble Johansson’s. He also noted that the voice belonged to another actress employed by the company.
Read what Signal’s CEO had to say about the OpenAI scandal
In an interview with TechCrunch, the CEO of WhatsApp rival Signal accused the artificial intelligence company of having a “dorm room” culture when asked about the controversy.
Whittaker said: “It’s just like… the ‘Edge Lord’ bullshit.” This is so disrespectful. It’s so unnecessary. And it really tears apart the veil of this mythology that you’re all sedate people at the top of science, building the next God, when it’s very clear that the culture is academic lunacy, perpetuated by a group of “yes men” who think every joke that you say, it’s humorous because they get paid to do it, and no one around here takes that leadership by the shoulders and says, “What the hell are you doing!?”
Earlier this week, Whittaker also reached out to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to respond to an account that reposted Johansson’s statement accusing OpenAI of frauding her vote.
She said: “The lack of respect for edgelords, the lack of professionalism, the strategic errors typical of real decision-making in the AI industry speak infinitely louder than all voluntary security assurances. In fact, these assurances mainly serve to emphasize how far the walk is from the conversation.”
Last week, OpenAI announced its “Sky” AI voice option along with its latest GPT-4o multilingual model. Since its release, ChatGPT users have started noticing the voice’s similarity to Johansson’s. The voice sounded similar to her voice in the 2013 film “Her”, in which the actor played an AI assistant with whom the main character fell in love.
In a statement, Johansson alleged that Altman approached her about voicing Sky, which she declined.
In a blog post, OpenAI CEO Altman said the company did not intend for Sky’s voice to resemble Johansson’s. He also noted that the voice belonged to another actress employed by the company.
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