Troy Baker-backed NFT company admits to using content without permission

"Go f*ck yourself," replies 15.ai, the service that was wronged by Voiceverse NFT.

Voiceverse NFT, a Troy Baker-backed non-fungible token (NFT) company, has admitted to using content without permission from 15.ai, a non-commercial text-to-speech service.

15.ai is a service that allows users to create an artificial voice by sampling recordings; as an example, you could upload samples from Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and then have ‘Picard’ say whatever you input. Voiceverse NFT has admitted to using the service to generate a sample that could theoretically have be sold on as an NFT.

The creator of 15.ai took to Twitter over the weekend and advised they were aware that Voiceverse NFT was “actively attempting to appropriate my work for their own benefit.”

Voiceverse NFT responded to the claim by boasting sarcastically; the tweet in question has since been deleted and replaced with an apology.

“We are extremely sorry about this,” the replacement tweet reads. “The voice was indeed taken from your platform, which our marketing team used without giving proper credit. Chubbiverse team has no knowledge of this. We will make sure this never happens again.”

The creator of 15.ai responded, simply: “Go fuck yourself.” Back in December of last year, the creator stated “I have no interest in incorporating NFTs into any aspect of my work. Please stop asking.”

Baker — the voice behind The Last of Us‘ Joel, Batman Arkham Origins‘ Batman and many more characters — took to Twitter last week to promote Voiceverse NFT.

“We all have a story to tell,” Baker wrote as part of an imflammatory tweet.

“You can hate. Or you can create.”

In follow-up tweets, Baker has admitted that “the ‘hate/create’ part might have been a bit antagonistic” but has not spoken to Voiceverse NFT’s sampling as yet. At the time of writing, Baker is still associated with the company.