Scarlett Johansson sues AI app over unauthorised use of her name and voice in ad

Scarlett Johansson has filed a lawsuit against an artificial intelligence (AI) app that used her face and voice in an advertisement without her consent. According to The Guardian, the 22-second advertisement posted on X (formerly Twitter) by an image-generating app called 'Lisa AI:90's Yearbook & Avatar', used real video of the star to create a fake image and dialogue for her. "What's up, guys? It's Scarlett and I want you to come with me," Johansson says as the video shifts to a collection of AI-generated images bearing a resemblance to her.

"It's not limited to avatars only," a voiceover continues, sounding very similar to the actor. "You can also create images with texts and even your AI videos. I think you shouldn't miss it," the narration adds, as per the publication.

Johansson's team had caught sight of the ad last week and since then it has been removed from the internet. According to the outlet, the video also featured a disclaimer that stated that the advertisement features "images produced by Lisa AI. It has nothing to do with this person."

Representatives for the Black Widow star confirmed to Variety that she is not a brand ambassador for the company and that appropriate legal actions were taken since the ad was spotted on the internet. "We do not take these things lightly. Per our usual course of action in these circumstances, we will deal with it with all legal remedies that we will have," her lawyer informed the firm.

Johansson isn't the only celebrity to have been targeted by AI. Last month, Tom Hanks alerted his Instagram followers to a promotional video for a dental plan that used his image. "Beware!!" the 67-year-old wrote along a photo of his lookalike. "There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it," he added.

In addition, as per The Guardian, comedian Sarah Silverman also sued OpenAI and Meta, citing copyright infringement and asserting that their AI models were trained on her content without her permission.