Meta Platforms Inc. META is gearing up to announce that its AI chatbot will reportedly be able to mimic the voices of celebrities such as Judi Dench, John Cena, and others.
What Happened: Meta has secured agreements with several actors, including Dench, Kristen Bell, and Cena, to voice its AI chatbot, reported Reuters, citing a source familiar with the plans.
This new audio feature will enable users to choose a voice for Meta’s digital assistant from a list of five celebrities, which also includes Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key, in addition to several generic voice options.
The social media behemoth plans to unveil these audio capabilities at its annual Connect conference, which kicks off on Wednesday.
The celebrity voices will start rolling out in the U.S. and other English-speaking markets this week across Meta’s suite of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Meta is also anticipated to reveal the first iteration of its augmented-reality glasses at the Connect conference this year.
The company has been striving to launch generative artificial intelligence products to its billions of users, vying against ChatGPT-parent OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a promotional video featuring Cena on Instagram last week, showing the two men and several others engaging in stunts while wearing the Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
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Why It Matters: This latest development by Meta comes in the wake of a controversy involving OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson, where the actress accused the AI company of using a voice modeled after hers without consent.
This incident highlighted the need for regulations to protect artists and creators from being exploited by AI tools.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and founder of xAI, also criticized OpenAI, the company he co-founded in 2015 but later parted ways with, for replicating the actor’s voice.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists or SAG-AFTRA also supported Johansson in her dispute with OpenAI.
The use of AI to replace voice actors and creators was a central topic of debate during last year’s writers’ strike in Hollywood.
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