AI-Cloning of Lara Croft's Voice Has 'Tomb Raider' Fans, Actors Up in Arms
French voice actor Françoise Cadol and fans accused Aspyr of using AI to clone her iconic Lara Croft voice, sparking backlash and legal action.

A lifelong fan of “Tomb Raider,” French gamer Romain Bos was on tenterhooks when an update of the popular video game went online in August.

But his excitement quickly turned to anger.

The gamer's ears — and those of other “Tomb Raider" fans — picked up something amiss with the French-language voice of Lara Croft, the game’s protagonist.

It sounded robotic, lifeless even — shorn of the warmth, grace and believability that French voice actor Françoise Cadol has given to Croft since she started playing the character in 1996.

Gamers and Cadol herself came to the same conclusion: A machine had cloned her voice and replaced her.