{"id":305565,"date":"2026-02-27T23:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/305565\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:06:08","slug":"morgan-freeman-fires-back-at-ai-voice-replicas-ive-got-lawyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/305565\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Freeman Fires Back at AI Voice Replicas: \u2018I\u2019ve Got Lawyers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morgan Freeman<\/a> has built a career on a voice audiences instantly recognize\u2014but as artificial intelligence continues trying to recreate it, the Oscar winner is making it clear he\u2019s not letting that slide.<\/p>\n

During a February 27 appearance on CBS Mornings,<\/a> Freeman was asked directly about AI being used to mimic actors\u2019 voices and likenesses. His response was blunt: \u201cI\u2019ve got lawyers.\u201d <\/p>\n

He followed that up by confirming those lawyers have already been active, saying they\u2019ve been working to \u201ctamp that down\u201d as unauthorized uses of his voice continue to surface.<\/p>\n

The conversation came while Freeman was promoting the Netflix<\/a> documentary series, The Dinosaurs, which explores the history of dinosaurs and was a project he joined after being approached by Steven Spielberg. <\/p>\n

Freeman admitted he had \u201cno interest in dinosaurs whatsoever,\u201d but signed on because of the scale of the production and its visuals. \u201cDoing a voice over for such a great project\u2026 the visuals,\u201d he said, adding that the computer-generated imagery \u201cjumps off at you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even in that context, his voice remained a focal point of the discussion. When asked about its distinct tone, Freeman explained it wasn\u2019t something he was born with.<\/a> Instead, he trained for it. \u201cI went to school and studied voice and diction,\u201d he said, describing how techniques like lowering the voice and even something as simple as yawning can help relax the throat and deepen delivery.<\/p>\n

That level of intentional work is part of why Freeman takes issue with AI replication. In a previous interview with The Guardian<\/a>, he said he has taken legal action against multiple unauthorized uses of his voice. \u201cDon\u2019t mimic me with falseness,\u201d he said. \u201cI get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you\u2019re gonna do it without me, you\u2019re robbing me.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Freeman acknowledged there are situations where using his voice\u2014indirectly\u2014can be acceptable. He recalled a past deal with a company that paid him to allow someone else with a similar sound to perform on his behalf. \u201cYeah, that works,\u201d he said, when asked if compensation changes his perspective.<\/p>\n

Still, the rise of AI-generated voices and digital performers continues to raise questions across the industry. Freeman also raised concerns about synthetic actors, noting that replacing real performers with artificial ones could create tension within the business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morgan Freeman has built a career on a voice audiences instantly recognize\u2014but as artificial intelligence continues trying to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-305565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}