Press

OpenAI was recently accused of using Scarlett Johansson’s voice without permission. It’s a game of “he said, her said” when it comes to the latest crisis over at OpenAI. 

Actress Scarlett Johansson said she felt OpenAI copied her voice for its newly-released AI voices for ChatGPT. She said this came after she refused a request from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to use it. 

Executive Vice President Lindsay Singleton spoke to PRNEWS about what this means for the entertainment industry when it comes to AI guidelines going forward. 

A season of Congressional hearings on antisemitism on college campuses is winding down as the school year ends but the issue has become an effective political wedge that could endure.

For months, House Republicans have summoned university leaders to testify on Capitol Hill over allegations of antisemitism during protests on their campuses. As NPR’s Barbara Sprunt reports, the issue has become a political strategy for Republicans and one that is poised to endure beyond the school year.

ROKK Partner Kristen Hawn spoke to NPR’s All Things Considered about whether the hearings with university leaders will move the needle for Democratic voters. 

Kristen Hawn, Partner and Democratic strategist, joined Bloomberg’s Balance of Power to discuss how the Republicans vying to be Trump’s VP pick are rallying behind him at his trial in New York, whether or not Biden’s announcement on EV technology and an increase in Chinese tariffs can improve his favorability in swing states, and what to expect from the Maryland and West Virginia primary elections. Watch the replay.

President Biden’s reelection campaign is making a play for Florida, hoping to steal a state that has been moving toward the GOP — and has become the new home state for former President Trump — away from Republicans in November.

Winning back the Sunshine State will be an uphill battle, but Biden’s campaign thinks the issue of abortion, which will be on the ballot thanks to a restrictive new state law, can give the president and other Democrats a boost.

ROKK Senior Vice President John LaBombard spoke with The Hill about Biden’s decision to leverage the latest restrictive abortion legislation to win votes in Florida.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rising profile is raising the question of whether he could appear on a debate stage with President Biden and Donald Trump — and what impact that could have on the presidential race.

It’s not yet clear if Kennedy, who has seen scattered polling throughout his candidacy, will even be able to qualify for a televised forum, as the independent candidate has also yet to collect enough signatures for most state ballots.

Kristen Hawn, Democratic Strategist and Partner at ROKK Solutions, spoke with The Hill about why Biden may have the edge over his rivals in the 2024 Presidential race.  

Comms leaders from the private sector joined Axios at a reception event for conversations about how they are navigating AI and engaging in politicized cultural issues in a high-stakes election year.

Why it matters: Corporate communicators are the first to respond to political, economic and cultural crises on behalf of a company, and the stakes of doing so have never been higher in a contentious election year that will be defined by the rise of AI.

Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean was in conversation with Sabastian V. Niles, Salesforce president and chief legal officer, discussing the importance of deliberate engagement on social issues. Read the full conversation here.

At an event in Washington, D.C., alongside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, more than 100 Axios Communicators readers gathered to discuss managing corporate reputation during an election year.

Why it matters: In times of uncertainty, polarization or transition, employees require more communication, not less.

ROKK Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean spoke at the event about how the risks businesses face if they weigh in on issues that do not directly tie to their business objectives or corporate values.

ROKK Solutions Partner and Democratic strategist Kristen Hawn and the Vogel Group Principal Matt Keelen joins ‘Fox News Live’ to discuss President Biden saying he is ‘happy to debate’ former President Trump. Watch the replay.

On Indivisible’s website, the first words you’ll find—in large font and all caps—are “Defeat MAGA. Save democracy.” The progressive organizing group, formed shortly after Donald Trump’s 2016 win, sees the stakes of this fall’s presidential election as enormous, even existential. Yet when it deploys more than 2,000 volunteers to canvass neighborhoods in Arizona over the next seven months, the presidential race is the last topic it plans to bring up.

“We’re not going to be knocking on doors trying to convince people to vote for Joe Biden,” Indivisible’s co-founder Ezra Levin told me. Instead, its volunteers will be trying to turn out voters for just about every other Democrat on the ballot—including the party’s nominees for U.S. Senate and House seats and its candidates for the Republican-controlled state legislature—as well as a referendum that could restore abortion rights in Arizona.

ROKK Senior Vice President John LaBombard spoke to The Atlantic about whether Democrats’ tactic will work this election season. 

Democrats met with pro-Palestinian protesters have had an array of responses to the interruptions — from yelling back to attempting to connect them to Russia. 

But President Biden, who has faced a host of cease-fire supporters across the country, has been markedly more sympathetic. Even though they wholly disagree with his Israel policy, he often sides with the protesters’ sentiments, urging event security to let them be before being escorted away.

ROKK Senior Vice President John LaBombard spoke with The Hill about how Biden’s reaction to recent protesters seems to be authentically him.