Meta plans to unveil celebrity voices for AI chatbot at Connect event – report

This week, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) intends to disclose that it has inked deals with actors including, Judi Dench, Kristen Bell and John Cena to give voice to the company’s Meta AI chatbot, Reuters reported citing a person familiar with the matter.

The new audio feature — which is expected to be announced at Meta’s Connect conference on Wednesday — will give users the option to select a voice for the tech giant’s digital assistant from a list of five celebrities, which also has Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key. There are other generic voices available as well, the report added.

In addition, the company is anticipated to launch the first version of its augmented-reality glasses at the event and discuss its plan for other hardware devices such as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, the report noted.

Earlier this month, Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica (OTCPK:ESLOF) (OTCPK:ESLOY) extended its partnership with Meta to collaborate into the next decade to develop multi-generational smart eyewear products. Last year, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, became its first product to include an audio version of the Meta AI chatbot.

The celebrity voices will begin launching in the U.S. and other English-speaking markets this week across the company’s apps, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the report noted.

Bloomberg had previously reported that Meta was in talks with celebrities about using their voices for AI projects.

Generative AI services have become the talk of the town since the launch of Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. Globally, companies have launched their own large language models, or LLMs, which can provide services such as content, image, video and voice generation, to name a few.

Meta’s AI chatbot has been competing against ChatGPT and Gemini, developed by Alphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) unit’s Google.

In May, OpenAI showed off a similar audio feature for its chatbot. However, the company paused the use of a voice called Sky used in the audible version of ChatGPT after users noted that it sounded like actress Scarlett Johansson.

OpenAI had said then, “we believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.”

Johansson had played a fictional virtual assistant in a film known as Her, about a man who falls in love with an AI system.