Meta's chatbot could soon sound like John Cena or Judi Dench — but definitely not OpenAI's Scarlett Johansson soundalike
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- Meta will use actors including John Cena and Judi Dench to voice its AI chatbot, Reuters reported.
- The tech giant appears to be avoiding the mistake OpenAI made with its ChatGPT celebrity soundalike.
- OpenAI launched an AI chatbot that sounded like Scarlett Johansson — but she didn't voice it.
Meta plans to launch new AI chatbots voiced by celebrities at this week's Connect conference, Reuters reported.
The tech giant is diving into celebrity soundalike bots with five household names: John Cena, Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, Awkwafina, and Keegan-Michael Key, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the company's launch plan.
With the launch, Meta appears to have learned from a similar release that embroiled Sam Altman and OpenAI in controversy.
In May, OpenAI faced sharp criticism for the launch of its chatbot, Sky, which featured a voice that sounded remarkably similar to that of actor Scarlett Johansson — who famously voiced an AI in the 2013 movie "Her."
Johansson said she repeatedly declined to participate in OpenAI's project when asked and hired legal representation after the launch. OpenAI pulled the voice option amid the conflict with the superstar.
For his part, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased the celebrity partnership in an Instagram post that featured Cena in a "stunt test" of the company's Ray-Ban smart glasses — which Reuters reported will also be featured at the Connect conference.
Though it remains to be seen whether the latest Meta release will be a commercial or critical success, it appears the company will avoid the headache OpenAI encountered. Fortune reported last month that Meta is shelling out millions of dollars for the rights to use the stars' voices for AI projects.
This won't be the first time celebrity voices made their way to the tech world but it may be among the most fun. Waze has long partnered with stars like Morgan Freeman and Jay Leno to read out your map's directions, but Meta's AI chatbot offers the opportunity to give orders to Gossip Girl — or James Bond's boss.
Representatives for Meta and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.