Morgan Freeman Slams Unauthorized AI Voice Use, Says His Lawyers Are “Busy”

Freeman recently spoke with The Guardian about his thoughts on AI and how its trying to use his voice with permission. “I’m a little PO’d, you know,” he said. “I’m like any other actor: don’t mimic me with falseness. I don’t appreciate it and I get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you’re gonna do it without me, you’re robbing me.”

The Now You See Me: Now You Don’t star claims, “my lawyers have been very, very busy,” to remove AI being used without his knowledge, and added that there’s been “quite a few” cases his lawyers have found.

And this wasn’t the first time the Oscar winner has been vocal about the issue. In June 2024, he took to X to share his appreciation for fans noticing that AI-generated imitations of his voice had been created. “Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an AI voice imitating me,” Freeman wrote. “Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount. Grateful.” He also used the hashtags “scam” and “IdentityProtection.”

AI has been a hot topic in Hollywood as of late, with SAG-AFTRA addressing the creation of a computer-generated actress, Tilly Norwood, in September.

“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” said SAG-AFTRA. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”

Subscribe Sign Up