Entertainment
OpenAI Apologises To Johansson, Denies Voice Based On Her
OpenAI chief Sam Altman apologized Tuesday to Scarlett Johansson after the movie star said she was “shocked” by a new synthetic voice released by the ChatGPT-maker, but he insisted the voice was not based on hers.
At issue is “Sky,” a voice OpenAI featured last week in the release of its more humanlike GPT-4o artificial intelligence technology.
In a demo, Sky was at times flirtatious and funny, seamlessly jumping from one topic to the next, unlike most existing chatbots.
The technology — and sound of the voice — quickly drew similarities to the Johansson-voiced AI character in the 2013 film “Her.”
Altman has previously pointed to the Spike Jonze-directed movie — a cautionary tale about the future in which a man falls in love with an AI chatbot — as inspiration for where he would like AI interactions to go.
He furthered speculation last week with a single-word post on X, formerly Twitter, saying “her.”
“The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson’s, and it was never intended to resemble hers,” Altman said in a statement on Tuesday in a response to the controversy.
“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.”
The statement came after Johansson on Monday expressed outrage, saying she 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 couldn’t tell the difference.”
She said Altman had offered in September to hire her to work with OpenAI to create a synthetic voice, saying it might help people engaging with AI, but she declined.
Risk team disbanded
In a blogpost, the company explained that it began working to cast the voice actors in early 2023, “carefully considering the unique personality of each voice and their appeal to global audiences.”
Some of the characteristics sought were “a voice that feel timeless” and “an approachable voice that inspires trust,” the company said.
The five final actors were flown to San Francisco to record in June and July, it said, with their voices launched into ChatGPT last September.
“To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents,” OpenAI said.
“We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice.”
So far in the AI frenzy, most tech giants have been reluctant to overly humanize chatbots and some observers expressed concern that OpenAI’s demo last week had gone too far.
Microsoft Vice President Yusuf Mehdi cautioned that AI “should not be human.”
“It shouldn’t breathe. You should be able to…understand (it) is AI,” he told AFP.
The Johansson dispute came just days after OpenAI admitted it disbanded a team devoted to mitigating the long-term dangers of artificial intelligence.
OpenAI began dissolving the so-called “superalignment” group weeks ago, integrating members into other projects and research.
Singer Niniola Apata has opened up about her late husband, Michael Ndika, and the central role he played in her music career and personal life.
Speaking in a video at a gathering held in his honour, Niniola recounted how their relationship shaped her growth as an artist and as a person.
Ndika, CEO of African music platform NaijaReview, died on May 19, 2026 at 44.
She said he was her strongest supporter from day one even when she considered stepping away from music, he pushed her to continue.
According to her, Ndika believed in her talent and vowed to make her a star.
Niniola described their bond as inseparable, stressing how he was part of her daily routine and her main source of emotional support. Since his death, she said, her life has changed completely.
She thanked his family for embracing her and admitted that coping with the loss has been hard.
Reflecting on their marriage, she called it a love story.
She said Ndika gave her everything and lived for her and while she was the face and voice of her brand, he was the engine behind it.
She said: “My story with Michael is a love story. Michael did everything for me. Everything was for me, he was breathing for me. He loved me, I loved him so much. And I learned so much from Michael. But Michael met me raw, and he said, I’ll make you a superstar.’ And he did. I was just the face and the voice, but Michael was the engine.
“Even when I decided to, you know, give music a break, he didn’t let it. The first person I saw in the morning was Michael. And the last person who closed my eyes at night was Michael. So now what do I do? Tell me, what do I do? Michael was the best thing, the best person that ever happened to me.”
Air dominating Lagos radio station, Traffic radio, will begin a 24 hour service soon, even as the broadcast station marks it’s 14th anniversary.
The station was commissioned on May 29, 2012.
The milestone was celebrated on-air and across the station’s official digital platforms, with listeners and city officials engaging with the hashtag #LTRAt14.
The station’s astronomical progress in recent years has been attributed to the ingenuity of it’s General Manager, Mr Tayo Akanle, whom many have described as a thorough professional and a leader with listening ears.
Improving on it’s past records, the station now provides updates across multiple transit modes, including roads, train schedules, ferry movements, and flight times, ensuring seamless mobility across Lagos.
Attracting more commendation from listeners is the station’s ongoing modernization, particularly the integration of Live Camera Updates (LCU), which enables On-Air Personalities (OAPs) to share CCTV footage of major highways during gridlock.
Reviews and official perception surveys underscore the station’s high approval rating, with over 54% of Lagos road users tuning in daily during their morning and evening commutes.
As the station celebrates it’s 14th anniversary, sources close to it have revealed that there are underground activities, geared towards the station commencing a 24 hour service.
According to one of the sources, the management is keeping the plan close to it’s chest and will only mention it when everything needed to be done to ensure the delivery are concluded.
” I can confirm that the station is planning a 24 hour service, but the logistics are still being worked out. As things stand, the plan may materials before or by the end of this year” a source privy to the station’s activities disclosed to The Column News.
Seasoned actress Kate Henshaw has opened up about her fallout with colleague Genevieve Nnaji.
Appearing on the Tea with Tay podcast, Henshaw reflected on the end of their friendship, saying it faded quickly.
Henshaw who could not identify the exact cause of the breakdown, stated they may have grown apart or that some level of mistrust existed, but she remains unsure of what happened.
“We grew apart. Maybe she had some kind of mistrust about me… I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what came over her but I’ve moved on,” Henshaw said.
The actress did not give further details on when the fallout occurred.
Both actresses are icons of Nollywood and have featured in several notable films since the late 1990s.
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