Daughter of late Sylvester Stallone voice actor criticises AI cloning of her father

The daughter of a French actor who provided the voice for Sylvester Stallone in French dubbed movies has criticised a tech company for cloning her father’s voice using AI.

Alain Dorval, who died in February 2024, had lent his voice to the French language versions of numerous Stallone movies, including some of his most famous characters like Rocky Balboa and John Rambo.

On 10 January, the UK-based AI startup ElevenLabs announced in a since-deleted post that they had recreated Dorval’s voice and that it would be used in the action movie Armor.

The announcement has drawn strong criticism from Dorval’s daughter, Aurore Bergé, who is France’s minister for sexual equality.

In response to the deleted post, Bergé wrote on 10 January: “I agreed to a trial. Just a trial. An agreement strictly guaranteeing that my mother and I would be in final validation before any use/publication. And that nothing could be done without our agreement. I discover... on X that this commitment is not respected. I never approved such a broadcast. And my father would never have approved it as it was.”

In a statement released by ElevenLabs on Monday (13 January), the company wrote: “Following his passing in February, plans are underway to recreate Dorval’s voice using our AI technology for Stallone’s highly anticipated action thriller, Armored, set to premiere on Amazon France in March 2025.”

The company added: “The project is still underway, with edits continuing ahead of the film’s March 2025 release. A French dub already exists with a different actor, but recreating Alain Dorval’s voice is a tribute to his decades-long role as Stallone’s voice. Supporting this mission, Dorval’s family has partnered with the filmmakers at no cost to help preserve his impact on French cinema. Together with Lumiere and Dorval’s estate, we’ve agreed that if the quality bar isn’t met, the film will be released with traditional dubbing - the family retains full control and will decide if and how this AI dub is used.”

Armor, which sees Stallone play an armoured truck driver dealing with a suspicious package, was released in the United States in November. It’s set to be released in France via Amazon in March.

Over the past decade, AI has found several uses in the movie and television industry, from de-aging actors to analysing patterns and behaviours of viewers on streaming platforms, to bringing back the voices of late actors and even helping stitch together entire movie trailers.