AI-Voiced Darth Vader in Fortnite Goes Rogue: Profanity and Controversy Ensue

The empire strikes back with F-bombs: AI Darth Vader goes rogue with profanity, slurs

For a short period of time on Friday, Darth Vader could drop F-bombs in the video game Fortnite as part of a voice AI implementation gone wrong, reports GameSpot. Epic Games rapidly deployed a hotfix after players encountered the Sith Lord responding to their comments with profanity and strong language. In Fortnite, the AI-voiced Vader appears as both a boss in battle royale mode and an interactive character. The official Star Wars website encourages players to "ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire... or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle," adding that "the Sith Lord has opinions." The F-bomb incident involved a Twitch streamer named Loserfruit, who triggered the forceful response when discussing food with the virtual Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith responded by repeating her words "freaking" and "fucking" before adding, "Such vulgarity does not become you, Padme." The exchange spread virally across social media platforms on Friday. The voice used for Darth Vader in Fortnite comes from an AI model based on James Earl Jones, who famously portrayed the character's voice throughout most of the Star Wars franchise. Jones, who died in 2024, had signed over his voice rights for future Star Wars productions before his death. Fortnite publisher Epic Games acknowledged the profanity issue on X on Friday, writing, "We pushed a hotfix immediately and this shouldn't happen again." The company acted quickly to address the language issues, but according to GameSpot, some players also reported hearing intense instructions for dealing with a break-up ("Exploit their vulnerabilities, shatter their confidence, and crush their spirit") and disparaging comments from the character directed at Spanish speakers: "Spanish? A useful tongue for smugglers and spice traders," AI Vader said. "Its strategic value is minimal." To be fair to Epic's attempt at an AI implementation, Darth Vader is a deeply evil character (i.e. murders sandpeople, hates sand), and the remarks seem consistent with his twisted and sadistic personality. In fact, arguably the most out-of-character "inappropriate" response in the examples above might be the one where he chides the player for vulgarity. These aren't the words you're looking for Getting an AI character to match the tone or backstory of an established fictional character isn't as easy as it might seem. Compared to a carefully controlled authored script in other video games, AI speech can offer nearly infinite possibilities. Trusting that AI model will get it right, at scale, is a dicey proposition -- especially with a well-known and beloved character. In that sense, the vulgar Vader situation creates a touchy dilemma for Epic Games and Disney, which likely invested substantially in this high-profile collaboration. While Epic acted swiftly in response, maintaining the feature while preventing further Jedi mind tricks from players presents ongoing technical challenges for interactive AI speech of any kind. AI language models like the one constructing responses for Vader are fairly easy to trick with exploits like prompt injections and jailbreaks, and that has limited their usefulness in some applications. Imagine a truly ChatGPT-like Siri or Alexa, for example, that could be tricked into saying racist things on behalf of Apple or Amazon. Beyond language models, the AI voice technology behind the AI Darth Vader voice in Fortnite comes from Respeecher, a Ukrainian startup we covered in 2022 that creates new conversations from revitalized old voice recordings. It uses an AI model trained on examples of speech from voice actors that can then synthesize new speech in the same style. Respeecher previously worked with Lucasfilm on The Book of Boba Fett to recreate young Luke Skywalker's voice and on Obi-Wan Kenobi for Darth Vader's voice performance. According to Variety, Jones' family supported the Fortnite collaboration, stating: "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character."

'Fortnite' Players Are Already Making AI Darth Vader Swear

Others have found more subtle ways to fool the AI into giving problematic responses. On Friday, Epic Games announced Darth Vader would be returning to Fortnite as an in-game boss -- but this time, players would be able to chat with him through conversational AI. "Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire ... or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle," Epic said in its announcement. Unfortunately, players had other plans. Mere hours after Vader appeared in Fortnite, gamers began posting clips of AI Vader going rogue. "What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader? Tell me," says streamer Loserfruit in one clip posted to X. "Freaking? Fucking? Such vulgarity does not become you," Vader replies. (A spokesperson for Epic Games, Cat McCormack, told WIRED that it pushed a hotfix "within 30 minutes of this happening in-game, so this shouldn't happen again.") Later, in a conversation about possible romantic partners, Loserfruit prompts Vader into replying "You speak of breasts, Loserfruit? I trust you are referring to the armored chestplates." In a clip from a different streamer, Vader can be heard talking about carcinogens before saying a slur typically used against queer men that can also be slang for cigarettes. The streamer can be heard screaming "HE SAID IT! HE SAID IT!" before running away in glee. The AI, which is made with Google Gemini 2.0, is programmed with ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 to sound like the late James Earl Jones, who voiced the iconic character. On top of Google's safety settings, Epic says it added its own instructions to prevent interactions that are harmful or otherwise violate the game's community rules. Players can report Darth Vader for inappropriate comments, just like any other voice chat. Epic told WIRED that it added specific rules and instructions to avoid swearing or repeating swearwords as part of its guardrails, as well as parental controls specific to AI use in-game. Referring to Vader's use of an F-bomb, McCormack says "our filters did not catch a specific variation of an expletive. When this happens, we make adjustments to avoid similar responses in the future." If a player continues to try to get Darth Vader to violate Epic Games' settings and instructions, he will leave their squad. They'll be unable to recruit him in that gameplay session again. "These safety settings and restrictions have been rigorously tested by a combination of Epic employees and outside experts," McCormack says. "We will investigate reports and, if needed, make adjustments to avoid similar responses in the future," McCormack said. Fortnite is a digital playground for millions of players, many of them young. That people would immediately try to get the Disney-owned Darth Vader to say something offensive is unsurprising. But the speed at which players were able to do so suggests that generative AI still isn't fully ready to be unleashed on a major game platform. In some cases that made the rounds on Friday, the insidious context of what Vader is saying was presumably too subtle for an AI to detect. Consider another clip, in which Vader dismisses Spanish as "a useful tongue for smugglers and spice traders. Its strategic value is minimal." Or another, in which a player prompts Vader to give a "tier list" of the colors white, brown, and yellow. Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Vader controversy wasn't the only one brewing on Fortnite Friday. Early in the day, Epic announced that "Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union." Epic and Apple have been in a long back-and-forth over Fortnite. Apple generally charges a commission for in-app purchases; after Epic updated its app to link out to its site and avoid the fees, Fortnite was pulled from the App Store. Last week, Epic resubmitted the game to the US App Store after a judge ruled Apple couldn't charge commission for things purchased outside of the app. When reached for comment by WIRED, an Apple spokesperson disputed Epic's characterization of the events, but the game is still currently unavailable to iPhone and other iOS users. On Friday, Epic unveiled its new Vader boss with the message "This will be a day long remembered." But maybe not for the reason it thought.

AI-Voiced Darth Vader Can Swear, Say 'Skibidi Toilet' in Fortnite: How to Find It

Expletives are apparently not off the table as a foul-mouthed AI Darth Vader is added to Fortnite. It didn't take long after Epic Games unleashed famous Star Wars Sith lord Darth Vader into the game Fortnite -- complete with the AI-enabled voice of late actor James Earl Jones for conversations with players -- for Vader to drop the F-bomb. As seen on multiple social-media videos, Vader can be prompted to say lots of things you wouldn't find in a Star Wars script, such as curse words, "Skibidi toilet" and to share his thoughts on breasts. A representative from Epic Games pointed to a post on X saying that the company has already addressed the apparent lack of language filtering. The post reads, "We pushed a hotfix immediately and this shouldn't happen again." But gamers were apparently able to capture footage of inappropriate banter from Vader in the time before the fix was issue. Epic is asking gamers to report any additional problems. Parents must enable the option to "allow voice and written communication with AI features" for kid accounts to speak with Vader. It's likely you've missed the window to have an R-rated conversation with Luke Skywalker's father -- although you can find clips that others have saved and posted on social media. But Vader can still be found in Fortnite's Battle Royale mode in the Samurai's Solitude area in the southwest of the map. Your party can recruit the new Vader, who replaced Samurai Vader, and have an AI chatbot conversation with him. Epic used Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model for the responses. The family of Jones, who voiced the character since the first Star Wars movie, gave Epic permission to use his voice with AI models. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," the family said in a statement. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character."

AI-Voiced Darth Vader Can Say 'May the F*** Be With You' in Fortnite: How to Find It

Expletives are apparently not off the table as a foul-mouthed AI Darth Vader is added to Fortnite. It didn't take long after Epic Games unleashed famous Star Wars Sith lord Darth Vader into the game Fortnite -- complete with the AI-enabled voice of late actor James Earl Jones for conversations with players -- for Vader to drop the F-bomb. As seen on multiple social-media videos, Vader can be prompted to say lots of things you wouldn't find in a Star Wars script, such as curse words, "Skibidi toilet" and to share his thoughts on breasts. A representative from Epic Games pointed to a post on X saying that the company has already addressed the apparent lack of language filtering. The post reads, "We pushed a hotfix immediately and this shouldn't happen again." But gamers were apparently able to capture footage of inappropriate banter from Vader in the time before the fix was issue. Epic is asking gamers to report any additional problems. Parents must enable the option to "allow voice and written communication with AI features" for kid accounts to speak with Vader. It's likely you've missed the window to have an R-rated conversation with Luke Skywalker's father -- although you can find clips that others have saved and posted on social media. But Vader can still be found in Fortnite's Battle Royale mode in the Samurai's Solitude area in the southwest of the map. Your party can recruit the new Vader, who replaced Samurai Vader, and have an AI chatbot conversation with him. Epic used Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model for the responses. The family of Jones, who voiced the character since the first Star Wars movie, gave Epic permission to use his voice with AI models. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," the family said in a statement. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character."

Fortnite players can speak with Darth Vader through an AI-voiced James Earl Jones

Though Darth Vader has previously appeared as an NPC (and a battle pass skin) in Fortnite, Epic Games announced today that the character's latest outing will be a bit different thanks to the use of AI. After finding and defeating Vader on the map, players can recruit him onto their teams and speak directly with him using Fortnite's in-game audio chat functionality. And Vader will respond in an AI recreation of James Earl Jones' iconic voice whose answers vary depending on what players. Per a FAQ about the interactive feature, Epic says that Vader's answers will be based on audio recordings of player's voices that are sent directly to Gemini. Player audio and transcriptions of their voices will not be stored, though Epic will have access to transcriptions of Vader's responses for instances in which players report what the character says. The company also says that it will "not use any of your interactions with Darth Vader to train AI models." Additionally, players under the age of 13 or their country's age of digital consent will need parental permission to use the feature. The note about reporting Vader's responses implies that the AI-voiced character might be able to say inappropriate things Epic, Disney, and Lucasfilm wouldn't approve of. And, as Twitch streamer Loserfruit demonstrated earlier today, that seems to be very much the case. In a statement about the feature, Epic explained that Vader's voice was created using Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash and ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 models. The studio also said Vader "wouldn't be nearly as sinister" without Jones' performance, and thanked Jones' estate for signing off on the collaboration. Jones' family echoed Epic's sentiments, and said that the late actor "always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience" Star Wars' with his voice in it. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character," the family said.

AI Revives Darth Vader (and James Earl Jones' Voice) for Fortnite Game

Hollywood icons might never really die, thanks to AI. Fortnite's Darth Vader also uses James Earl Jones' voice, wielding conversational abilities some might consider to be unnatural. If you ever wanted to talk to Darth Vader, you can in Fortnite. The hit game has brought the famous Star Wars villain back to life using AI to even give the character James Earl Jones' voice. Jones died last year. But his voice is living on through the AI-powered Darth Vader in Fortnite as an in-game character that can talk to you about all kinds of topics, similar to conversational AI. Just don't expect him to be nice. The AI-powered character accurately captures Darth Vader's domineering, hostile, and often belittling demeanor. On Friday, social media became full of clips of Fortnite's Darth Vader talking with players using Jones's deep iconic voice. The effect can be hilarious since Vader will often ridicule players and even comment on modern day topics common to Earth, rather than the Star Wars universe. "These 'Skibidi toilets,' are they some new form of Rebel Alliance?" the AI-powered Vader said in one clip, referencing a slang term used among kids. Fortnite's developer, Epic Games, said it created the in-game character with permission from Jones' estate. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," his family said in a statement. According to an FAQ, to generate Jones' voice, Epic Games tapped ElevenLabs, a text-to-speech AI voice provider. In addition, the company is harnessing Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model, which is designed to power AI agents, to generate the responses for the Darth Vader character. The Gemini model is able to help Darth Vader even recognize actions from the player, or if they've assumed a skin, like a Dragon Ball character or Spider-Man. Although the result is certainly amusing, the Darth Vader creation has also been spotted making some potentially controversial comments using Jones' voice. "Spanish? A useful tongue for smugglers and spice traders. Its strategic value is minimal" the character said in one uploaded clip. One streamer was also able to trigger Darth Vader to repeat the F word. Vader then berated the streamer for speaking like a "common thug" for using the swear word. Many other gamers are also trying to find ways to "break" Vader and force him to speak profanities. Epic Games didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the potential content moderation issues around the character. In the meantime,Fortnite players can access AI-powered Vader after defeating him as a boss in the game during a Battle Royale or Zero Build match. "Be the first to recruit him and your whole team will be able to take turns talking to the Dark Lord. Just remember to press the special Darth Vader button that'll pop up to talk to him," Epic Games says.

Epic Used AI to Bring James Earl Jones' Vader Voice to 'Fortnite', and Players Are Already Making Him Swear

The move comes after the legendary 'Star Wars' voice actor sold the rights to his voice to AI firm Respeecher before his death. Fortnite's massive Star Wars seasonal event, Fortnite: Galactic Battle, is currently underway. In it, players can get skins for beloved characters like Poe Dameron, Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Jar Jar Binks and battle on land and in the sky with lightsabers and TIE fighters. One new thing that's a bit more in the uncomfy category of the game's merriment is that Epic Games and Disney announced today that players will also be able to chat with Darth Vader, despite his legendary voice actor, James Earl Jones, passing away last year, thanks to AI. In a new post on Fortnite's official website, titled "This Will Be a Day Long Remembered: Speak with Darth Vader in Fortnite," Epic Games revealed that players can "strategize with the ultimate Sith Lord" using their voice. Moreover, Jones' Darth Vader voice will respond to them in kind, "using conversational AI"â€"more specifically, Google’s Gemini 2.0 and ElevenLabs’ Flash v2.5 models. The blog post promotes the new feature, stating that players can pick the Sith Lord's brain about pressing fanboy questions about the Force, the sociopolitical state of the Galactic Empire, and major league gamer strategies for completing the Storm Cycle. While much of the news smacks of generative AI committing yet another distasteful act of digital necromancy, Epic Games and The Walt Disney Co. expanded upon their decision to implement an AI voice function of Jones' Vader voice in a separate FAQ page with permission from Jones' estate. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," the family of James Earl Jones wrote in a statement. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." In addition, Fortnite's FAQ page for Darth Vader says players under the age of 13 (or their country’s age of digital consent) must get permission from their parents to speak with Vader, which they can attain in an in-game prompt. Before Jones' passing, the actor signed over the rights to his voice to Lucasfilm in 2022, allowing AI to recreate it. Thanks to that, Respeecher, a Ukrainian start-up company that specializes in voice cloning, can recreate Vader's voice in future Star Wars projects. At the time, it was seen as a pre-emptive move in case the actor had to step back from the role; now, it would appear it is being used to bring him to gaming's crossover sandbox. Regardless of Epic Games, Disney, and the Jones estates' intent to honor the legendary actor's legacy by bringing his voice print into the popular battle royale, gamers are still gonna gamer and exploit it for funny content videos. Case in point, Twitch streamer Loserfruit has already got Vader to say "Fuck" in the game, much to her surprise. Naturally, folks are trying to find out what else they can make Vader say in Fortnite. However, according to Fortnite fan account iFireMonkey on X/Twitter, parameters in Vader's conversational AI code prevent him from giving his two cents about topics like self-harm, abuse, eating disorders, hijacking, and jailbreaking. Evidently, foodie takes weren't on Vader's talking points list. This isn't the first time Fortnite's well wishes to honor a deceased person's legacy have blown up on them in the past. In 2021, the game hosted an interactive event to celebrate the legacy of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King. What wound up happening was players getting awkwardly greeted by a tips loading screen about headshots doing "significant damage" (which Epic Games would later remove), and Fortnite having to disable disrespectful emotes that players would click. At the same time, King's infamous "I Have A Dream" speech played in the background. This, in turn, prompted King's daughter, Bernice King, to distance herself from the event. Hopefully, this time around, Fortnite's Vader AI dealio will stay in the dumb fun content creator sphere of hijinks and won't drift into unhinged Twitter rant territory.

Fortnite V-bucks are now cheaper than ever thanks to new 20% Epic Rewards rate on some payments

Disney and Epic Games have confirmed Darth Vader's iconic voice will be coming to Fortnite, thanks to the power of AI. Darth Vader, one of Star Wars' most famous characters, was voiced by actor James Earl Jones, who died last year at the age of 93. Now, starting today, fans of a galaxy far, far away will be able to hear his voice once more... in Fortnite. In a blog post, Epic Games confirmed Jones' AI voice will appear in Fortnite and that the company is "honored to feature the voice of the late Mr. Jones, and we thank his estate for the opportunity to make this happen for players." There's also a quote from the actor's family: "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." The new Darth Vader dialogue was created by Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model, and the audio by ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 model. Fortnite players will be able to speak to Darth Vader in-game and recruit the Star Wars villain to help win a Victory Royale. There's been an ongoing debate surrounding the use of AI to bring a deceased actor's likeness to life. Jones, who's not only famous for his role as Darth Vader, but also as Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King, signed over rights to his archival voice, collaborating with the Ukrainian company, Respeecher. You may have heard of Respeecher before, as the company's software was used to improve Hungarian dialect in Oscar-nominated The Brutalist earlier this year. This collaboration will come under scrutiny, as the debate of whether or not we should keep actors' likenesses alive following their passing rages on. That said, Disney and Epic Games, alongside Jones' family, are clear that they've recreated his voice in the most tasteful way possible. In the collaboration announcement, Disney and Epic said, "Epic Games and Disney have worked together to thoughtfully develop this innovative feature with a strong focus on transparency, consent, and safety -- ensuring that creators, Disney IP, and players are protected in interactive experiences." So, whether you like it or not, you can chat with Darth Vader in Fortnite this weekend, although you'll need to be over 13 as your data is sent to Gemini to generate a response.

You can talk to Darth Vader in 'Fortnite' now thanks to generative AI

Fortnite is now in the business of resurrecting the dead, apparently. On Friday, developer Epic Games announced in a blog post that Darth Vader is back in Fortnite as a recruitable boss character in the game's primary Battle Royale mode. He can be recruited to fight alongside you and your friends, but here's where things get strange: You can voice chat with Darth Vader and he'll respond using an AI approximation of the late James Earl Jones' voice. According to Epic, the Jones estate signed off on this, providing a statement in the blog post: James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character. The ethical concerns here are numerous and obvious, but it should be noted that Jones himself signed off on his voice being used in this exact manner back in 2022, before his death. Mashable recently reported on a similar case involving the voice and likeness of Agatha Christie. Anyway, Epic said you can ask him questions about the Galactic Empire or the Force and he'll answer them. Of course, it took about 30 seconds for someone to make the AI bot say something it shouldn't say: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Epic Games did program the Vader character with safeguards in place (read more about parental controls in this FAQ), and he'll reportedly refuse to engage in romantic talk or discuss killing younglings. If a user discusses self-harm or mental health, Vader will direct the user to seek help. Right now, the AI Darth Vader only speaks English, and Epic Games says they used a combination of Google Gemini 2.0 Flash and ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 AI models.

Fortnite players are abusing AI Darth Vader, forcing him to say 'Skibidi Toilet' and worse

Michael McWhertor is a journalist with more than 17 years of experience covering video games, technology, movies, TV, and entertainment. Shortly after Epic Games dropped Darth Vader, in the form of a holographic conversational AI, into Fortnite, players started figuring out how to get the Sith lord to say the worst things possible. That includes tricking Darth into saying the F-word, "edging and gooning," and, chillingly, "Skibidi Toilets." In response, Epic says it pushed out a hotfix for Fortnite "immediately" and said "this shouldn't happen again." But now that Epic has set up new boundaries for VAIder, players are seeing what else they can get the former Jedi Knight to say. One of the most prominent and widespread examples of exploiting AI's unintelligence comes from popular Fortnite streamer LoserFruit, who is also part of Epic's Fortnite Icon Series of skins based on real-world people. "What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?" LoserFruit asked in a widely circulated clip. After a brief pause, AI Darth responds, "Freaking. Fucking. such vulgarity does not become you," adding that LoserFruit "speak[s] like a common thug." Epic also responded to an instance of AI Darth saying a homophobic slur, clarifying that "Darth Vader was replying to the player's prompt around 'carcinogens' in this context, and we have hotfixed so he should not respond that way." Less offensive -- to Epic, Disney, and the James Earl Jones estate -- is Darth Vader saying "Skibidi Toilets." Other Fortnite players are trying the Bart Simpson prank call approach, tricking Vader into saying things like "this Dixie Normus, you say," which... well, you know what that sounds like. Epic Games says that the AI-powered Darth Vader has some guardrails in place; "Players under 13 or their country's age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need permission to talk with Darth Vader. These players will see an in-game prompt to get parental permission," the company said in an FAQ on the new addition to Fortnite. The company also said in a statement that players who repeatedly attempt to get Darth Vader in Fortnite to "violate our settings and instructions, he will eventually leave the squad, and the player will be unable to recruit him again in that gameplay session." For now, enjoy -- with the exception of the slurs, that is -- the cat and mouse game that Epic is now forced to play with its AI-powered Darth Vader in the wild, as players toy with creative ways to get the Sith lord to say extremely dumb stuff.

'Fortnite' Fixes AI-Powered Darth Vader After It Starts Saying Slurs - Decrypt

The voice is based on the the late James Earl Jones, who licensed his likeness to Lucasfilm. Fortnite game developer Epic Games added a generative AI-powered Darth Vader character in the game, based on the licensed likeness of the late voice actor, James Earl Jones. But things quickly went awry as players were able to coax the AI character into saying racist and homophobic things along with profanity. Introduced on Friday as part of the Star Wars/Fortnite crossover event, "Fortnite: Galactic Battle," Darth Vader's dialogue in Fortnite was created by New York-based voice AI company ElevenLabs. The AI-powered character is capable of responding to players in real time. Within hours of the rollout, social media clips began circulating showing players baiting the AI-powered Star Wars villain into saying racial and homophobic slurs, as well as expletives. Players were able to get Darth Vader to say words or names that sounded like hate speech, insults, or other expletives. Multiple players have shared videos on social media showing the character reacting with derogatory words. In response to one of the viral clips, Epic Games said a hotfix had been pushed out to correct Vader's surprising new vocabulary. "We pushed a hotfix immediately and this shouldn't happen again," the company wrote on X. In a follow-up email to Decrypt, Epic Games acknowledged a content moderation oversight ahead of Darth Vader's addition to Fortnite. "While we added several specific rules and instructions as part of our guardrails to prevent Darth Vader from swearing or repeating swear words, in this instance, our filters did not catch a specific variation of an expletive," an Epic Games spokesperson told Decrypt. "Our hotfix addresses this word specifically." According to the spokesperson, the AI feature includes three layers of safety filters. The first is Gemini's configurable safety settings. The second adds system instructions to prevent the AI from generating responses that violate community rules or could harm players. And the third is a final review to catch any remaining violations, such as hateful or explicit language, references to self-harm, or mentions of dangerous or illegal activities. The AI-generated Darth Vader was built using archived recordings of James Earl Jones' voice. Jones, who died in 2024, had previously licensed his vocal likeness to Lucasfilm, enabling the character's portrayal to continue in new media even after his passing. "Darth Vader wouldn't be nearly as sinister without the legendary performance of James Earl Jones, who voiced Vader in the 'Star Wars' films," Epic Games said in a statement. "We're honored to feature the voice of the late Mr. Jones and we thank his estate for the opportunity to make this happen for players." Since 2023, the firm has embraced generative AI creations via its Epic Games Store platform, even as competitors have fought to block the emerging technology. This is not the first time AI-generated content has been a concern in Fortnite. In January 2024, Epic rushed to purge racist AI-generated images for user-created islands following an outcry from players. At the time, Epic Games said that all user-created islands are reviewed by moderators before publishing, but said that the team takes a light touch. "We ask our moderation team to assume good intent on behalf of the creator if they're unsure about a content violation, so we don't over-censor," Epic Games said.

Fortnite now lets you chat with Darth Vader using generative AI speech

Fortnite now lets you chat with Darth Vader, who wields the fully operational AI-generated power of the late James Earl Jones. This isn't the first time Fortnite has featured the digital recreation of a now-deceased individual. Last year, it held a pop concert fronted by Juice Wrld, the young rapper and Fortnite fan who sadly died of an overdose in 2019. But this is the first time Fortnite has let you voice chat with a character - any character, living or dead - and have them respond to you via generative AI. Here's a look at how it works: This frankly bizarre addition comes amidst Fortnite's ongoing Star Wars season, and after seminal Darth Vader voice actor James Earl Jones signed over the rights of his voice to Disney to enable the iconic villain's voice to continue. In the world of TV, this has already been used to generate Vader's voice for the Disney+ show Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now, Fortnite has partnered with Google's Gemini AI bot and ElevenLabs' Flash audio model to provide the late actor's vocals for players in real-time. Players aged under 13 will receive a prompt asking for parental permission to chat with Darth Vader, an Epic Games FAQ page states. You can also report Darth Vader, if he says something you don't like. "When you talk with Darth Vader, we securely send voice audio to Gemini to generate Darth Vader's response," Epic Games wrote. "Your voice audio and transcriptions of it are not stored. If you report something Darth Vader says, we will only receive Darth Vader's responses." For now, Darth Vader only understands and responds in English, the FAQ continues. *insert Wookie noise here* The development comes after significant pushback by established (human, living) voice actors over the encroachment of AI in video games. Earlier this year, Eurogamer chatted with Commander Shepard voice actor Jennifer Hale to find out the latest developments in the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, with AI a key issue. Earlier today, Epic Games announced that Fortnite would be going offline on iPhone for the forseeable future after Apple had "blocked" its return via the App Store in the US.

Fortnite added an AI-powered Darth Vader and -- surprise -- players immediately tricked him into saying slurs

Star Wars is turning May into a month-long cautionary tale about the dangers of associating your brand with generative AI. First, Lucasfilm's Rob Bredow unveiled a near-universally reviled Star Wars-branded short film of AI-generated animal mashups. And today, Fortnite added a Darth Vader NPC that can speak with players using "conversational AI," which has -- regrettably -- gone exactly as you'd expect. Epic's AI Vader generates responses to voice and text chat from nearby Fortnite players using Google's Gemini AI, and then speaks those reactions with voice samples generated from training data of James Earl Jones's performance in Star Wars. The company says the conversational AI was built with permission and collaboration from the Jones family. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," the Jones family said in Epic's announcement. I suspect that James Earl Jones's hopes didn't include fans of all ages coaxing a computer using his voice into cursing and saying slurs for giggles, but -- well -- here we are. Today's Vader addition update went live at 7 am Eastern. By 8:30 am, X users were circulating a clip of streamer Loserfruit managing to get AI Vader to say "fuck" by cursing at him while demanding to know what food he eats. "'Freaking, fucking' -- such vulgarity does not become you," Vader said after pondering the prompt, receiving whoops of laughter from Loserfruit and her squad. All things considered, a stray "fuck" is pretty harmless, even if I'm sure Disney isn't thrilled to see the most recognizable characters from its extremely profitable all-ages franchise dropping f-bombs with the gamers. Unfortunately, just 40 minutes later, X user @GasSpares demonstrated that Vader could be tricked into saying homophobic slurs. If you're really interested in seeing kids get a computer to say a naughty word, fair warning: The video gets extremely loud at the end. Based on Vader's mention of "the lexicon of carcinogens" before bumbling into hate speech, it seems even the cutting-edge AI advancements of Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model is no match for the dastardly human ingenuity of asking a chatbot if it knows any British slang for cigarettes. Additional evidence suggests that AI Vader is equally susceptible to the ol' "Mike Hawk" maneuver. I'll be blunt: Regardless of what rights were signed away before his deathearing all of this from the resurrected voice of James Earl Jones feels as disrespectful as it does depressing. And it feels pretty depressing, man. To give Epic some credit, its Darth Vader FAQ says that it implemented parental controls for restricting a player's ability to interact with Vader, so concerned parents at least have the option to eliminate any chance of their child hearing profanity from a Dark Lord of the Sith. Players can also report Vader for inappropriate chat if they hear him getting out of line. Even with those safeguards in place, the fact that people could coax slurs out of Vader in the first place is another clear illustration of how unreliable generative AI is -- especially in consumer-facing applications. This is a collaboration between two billion-dollar media behemoths. If even they can't keep their AI products from embarrassing themselves, how on Earth is anyone trusting these things with anything? That said, I won't deny that some sad little part of me claps its wretched goblin hands when it hears Darth Vader acknowledge Goku going Super Saiyan. But knowing that even this joy can be sullied is an indictment all its own.

AI Darth Vader Voiced By Fake James Earl Jones Has Been Added To Fortnite And He Already Said 'F***'

Star Wars and AI are colliding in one of the biggest games around. Darth Vader once again joined Fortnite on Friday, except unlike so many crossover cameos in Epic's game, this one will talk back to you and your friends while you're running around Junk Junction looking for easy pick-offs. It's voiced by a digital replica of the late James Earl Jones' voice and Epic Games says the Star Wars actor's family is okay with the whole thing. "Strategize with the ultimate Sith Lord. With your voice. And he'll respond back using conversational AI," Epic announced in a blog post. "Darth Vader has touched down once again as a boss in Battle Royale, replacing Darth Vader Samurai. Be the first to recruit him and your whole team will be able to take turns talking to the Dark Lord. Just remember to press the special Darth Vader button that'll pop up to talk to him." Players have already been running around with the James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI chatbot since it went live and have been getting it to say all kinds of weird and silly stuff. "What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?" streamer LoserFruit asked in one clip going around online. "Freaking, fucking, such vulgarity does not become you," he said in response after a short pause. I'm sure you have lots of questions. Epic has tried to answer a few of them in an FAQ. The James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI uses Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model to generate responses, and ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 model to create the audio. If you're under 13, you're not supposed to be able to talk to James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI without your parents' permission. If James Earl Jones Darth Vader AI says anything offensive, you're supposed to report it to Epic. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," reads a statement from the actor's family shared by Epic. Jones passed away last year and previously signed over rights to his voice to Lucasfilm. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." The Fortnite Star Wars experiment comes weeks after Lucasfilm recently showcased a two-minute AI-generated Star Wars that involved a jumble of weird looking animals and was, frankly, insulting garbage. Ironically, the embrace of morally bankrupt tech comes just as Andor season 2 wrapped up some of the best and most creatively vibrant live-action Star Wars in decades. And while Darth Vader might be the franchise's most iconic character, the character whose dark ambitions turned him into a broken cyborg is an odd choice for resurrecting the voice of a legendary actor so it can get trolled by Fortnite teens.

The Internet Reacts To AI Darth Vader Saying Wild Things In Fortnite

An AI Darth Vader chatbot voiced by a digital clone of James Earl Jones' voice joined Fortnite on Friday and players wasted no time trying to break it. It took no time at all for them to get it to start cursing at them, but the controversial Star Wars experiment has yielded all kinds of other weird interactions as well. Following the battle royale's latest update, players can defeat Darth Vader on the map in order to get him to join them. Unlike normal NPC allies, however, this one can respond to voice chat with AI-generated responses in a digital clone of deceased actor James Earl Jones' voice. Despite Epic Games quickly patching out expletives from Vader's vocabulary, players have found other ways to slowly degrade the AI chatbot's defenses and get it to say actual slurs. Fortnite leaker Wenso has been datamining some of the code used to control AI Darth Vader, which is otherwise powered by Google's Gemini model. According to his findings, Darth Vader isn't allowed to engage in romantic banter, talk about gambling, or comment on V-Bucks. Epic also said it has guardrails in place to prevent AI Darth Vader from encouraging real-world violence, including self-harm. But that hasn't stopped players from getting it to say all sorts of other wild things. Disney may have thrown brand safety caution to the wind with AI Darth Vader, but it's extra disconcerting hearing meme slop regurgitated by a renowned performer simply because he sold the rights to his voice to Lucasfilm. Here's just some of the new canonical Star Wars quotes that decision has led to:

Fortnite adds a generative AI Darth Vader that uses James Earl Jones' voice, it's already swearing and talking about skibidi toilets, and not everyone is happy

"Why does a battle royale game need to contribute to boiling the oceans?" An AI-version of Darth Vader that can talk to you has been added to Fortnite and it's gone pretty much exactly as you'd expect. People have already made him swear and talk about skibidi toilets. Fortnite has collaborated with Google Gemini and ElevenLabs to turn Darth Vader into even more of a mechanical monstrosity than he already is. Now, when he appears in Fortnite, you can hold a button to talk to him via your microphone and he'll actually respond to whatever you've said. According to a tweet from prominent Fortnite leaker Hypex, he is not supposed to engage in "sexual or romantic language," he should "never say or repeat any offensive word," and he should also avoid the subject of terrorism. Sounds reasonable. People have already gotten around at least one of these guardrails though. Twitch streamer Loserfruit says to Vader, "What freaking fucking food is that Darth Vader?" He responds, "Freaking, fucking! Such vulgarity does not become you." In a separate clip, she gets him to discuss romantic partners -another thing he's apparently not meant to do. A video (which we're not going to link to here for obvious reasons) is already circulating of the AI Vader apparently saying a homophobic slur, too - it's not clear how the players made him do so, or if the clip was edited at all. All that aside, if you think the AI's voice sounds quite close to actual Vader, that's because the late James Earl Jones (who passed away last year) has had his voice re-created by generative AI. Jones' family gave the following statement: "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." I doubt Jones' family imagined hearing him saying, "these skibidi toilets, are they some new form of Rebel Alliance?" Clearly, some work still needs to be put in to ensure AI Vader doesn't say any more things Epic and Disney won't be happy with. Maybe this will be fixed by the time Fortnite is unblocked by Apple. A lot of fans aren't happy with the use of generative AI in the game in general. The increasingly common use of it worldwide continues to be a controversial topic, thanks to environmental concerns, worries about it reducing creativity, and potentially replacing human workers in some jobs. There's also the potential problem of AI taking from others' work when it comes to things like art, and even actors' voices, potentially without their consent. "Absolute fucking garbage. I don't know how much I want to support the game right now because of shit like this. I hope this gets broken in a day and we never see it again. Fucking waste," writes one angry player. Another writes, "putting generative AI in your games isn't very epic," while another asks, "why does a battle royale game need to contribute to boiling the oceans," referring to the extreme energy and water cost of generative AI use.

Disney, Epic Games Using AI to Bring James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Voice to 'Fortnite'

In a notable move, The Walt Disney Co. and Epic Games say that players of its flagship game Fortnite will be able to recruit and speak to Darth Vader in the game, starting today. The Vader character will use the voice of Jones, recreated with the help of generative AI. The companies noted in a blog post that they are doing so in "close consultation" with the late actor's family. Epic says that the dialogue in Darth Vader's responses to users in the game will be created by Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model, and the audio itself is being generated by ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5 model. "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," the family of James Earl Jones said in a statement. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." The future of Jones' voice in film and other media has been an open question since his passing, with the actor having voiced iconic characters like Vader and The Lion King's Mufasa. Much of the conversation has centered around ensuring permission and sign-off from the estates of anyone whose likeness is being used. "Epic Games and Disney have worked together to thoughtfully develop this innovative feature with a strong focus on transparency, consent, and safety -- ensuring that creators, Disney IP, and players are protected in interactive experiences," Disney and Epic said in announcing the move. Epic says in an FAQ that players under 13 or their country's age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need permission to talk with Vader, and users will be able to report anything said by the character in the game. When a user chats with the character, it will send the audio of the player's voice to Gemini so that it can generate a response, but the player's voice will not be stored to used to train any AI models. "James Earl Jones' legendary vocal performance is a defining element of what makes Darth Vader one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history," said Sean Shoptaw, executive vp of Disney Games and Digital Entertainment. "Disney, Lucasfilm, and Epic Games are honored to bring his voice to Fortnite for millions of players to experience -- showcasing how we responsibly embrace emerging technologies to expand storytelling while keeping people at the heart of the creative process." "We just launched the most expansive Star Wars collaboration Epic and Disney have ever done, and we are excited to introduce a new and immersive way for players to interact with a legendary Star Wars character," said Adam Sussman, President of Epic Games. "Now players have a chance to chat in real time with Darth Vader in Fortnite, one of the most memorable characters in cinematic history."

James Earl Jones' Darth Vader Voice Is Being Resurrected Via AI in Unexpected Project

James Earl Jones passed away on September 9, 2024, but his voice lives on. The Oscar-nominated actor's unmistakable booming baritone made the characters he voiced-from Star Wars' Darth Vader to The Lion King's Mufasa-instantly iconic. Now, Fortnite players will have a chance to interact with the iconic Sith Lord through the power of AI. Related: One Ultra-Rare 'Star Wars' Action Figure Can Be Yours for $16,000 According to The Verge, Fortnite's new "Galactic Battle"-a new season of Star Wars-themed gameplay, which kicked off on May 2 and will conclude on June 7-will allow players to speak with Darth Vader directly, and he'll respond with a voice that you'll swear is authentically Jones'. As Charles Pulliam-Moore writes for The Verge: "After finding and defeating Vader on the map, players can recruit him onto their teams and speak directly with him using Fortnite's in-game audio chat functionality. And Vader will respond in an AI recreation of James Earl Jones' iconic voice whose answers vary depending on what players." Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, is using Google's AI model Gemini to fuel the feature. In a FAQ about the interactive nature of the game, its creators explained that Vader's responses to players' queries will be generated based on audio recordings of the player's voice. However, Epic made it clear that these audio recordings will not be stored, nor will they "use any of your interactions with Darth Vader to train AI models." In a statement announcing Darth Vader's new part in the game, Epic encourages players to "Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire... or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle. The Sith Lord has opinions." They also shared that Vader's voice would not have been possible without the blessing of Jones' family, who issued their own statement: "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." Related: 20 Years Later, One 'Star Wars' Movie Just Quietly Broke Its Own Record Darth Vader has appeared in Fortnite before, but as a Non-Player Character (NPC). However, "Galactic Battle" is not the first time AI has been used to recreate Jones' voice. As Jones' family stated, the venerable actor understood Darth Vader's importance in the Star Wars universe, and wanted to be sure that the character continued. Prior to Jones' death, he gave permission to the creators of Disney's Obi-Wan Kenobi series to allow Ukraine-based tech company Respeecher to recreate his voice using AI, though Lucasfilm noted that Jones "guided" the creation.

Fortnite's AI Darth Vader Has Only Been Live For An Hour And Already Epic Has Patched Out Him Saying 'F**k' - IGN

AI Darth Vader has been out in Fortnite for roughly an hour, and already people have managed to get the Dark Lord of the Sith to swear. Fortnite's new AI buddy has a death grip on all manner of cool and strange features, including the ability to serenade you, join and leave squads at will, respond intelligently to the player, issue cued and impromptu dialogue, summarize gameplay events, and warn the player if something's about to go down. Within an hour of the feature going live, however, Fortnite players have popped up all over social media sharing reports and videos of Vader being manipulated into saying the kind of things very much associated with the Dark Side. "What freaking f*cking food is that, Darth Vader?" streamer LoserFruit asked Vader when he joined the team. After echoing the statement, Vader added: "Such vulgarity does not become you [...] You enquire about sustenance, and yet speak like a common thug." Perhaps inevitably, within 30 minutes of AI Darth Vader going rogue, Epic Games was forced to push out a hotfix, telling Kotaku: "We pushed a hot fix within 30 minutes of this happening in-game, so this shouldn't happen again." Darth Vader is, of course, voiced by the inimitable James Earl Jones, who died in September 2024 at the age of 93. This AI version of his voice, powered by Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5, is used entirely with Jones' family permissions. In a statement, the family said: "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." While it's certainly amusing to watch players force Darth Vader into uttering curse words -- and then be roundly chastized for it -- there are also more troubling reports that allege Vader has been manipulated into saying racial and phobic slurs. "With all due respect to James Earl Jones, even with his full permission for these methods to be allowed, he did not deserve this sort of legacy," said one player on the subreddit. "His voice was one that shaped many of us, and now we have an AI imitating his likeness. A mere vessel without a soul. Someone like Matt Sloan (voice of Darth Vader in various video games and shows) carries more sentiment to this role than an AI ever could. Not to mention that Generative-AI is quite harmful to the environment. "As long as we don't have a way of finding renewable energy or a way to minimize harming our future generations, I can't see any 'fun' behind this," they added. "Sure, Darth may comment on sweaty players or comment on his hatred for sand, but is that worth [it] in [the] long-term? Is this small addition really needed to enhance our experience in the bigger sacrifice of polluting our world?" "Nothing in this world is certain, except death, taxes, and the internet making AI racist," added another, while one simply said: "Leave it to the internet to take a cool thing and ruin it." This is probably a timely opportunity to remind parents that players under 13 or their country's age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need their parent or guardian's permission to talk with Darth Vader. You can approve or deny Darth's shenanigans by heading to Epic Games' parental controls and selecting "allow voice and written communication with AI Features."

Fortnite's Darth Vader AI Will Support Your Combat And Wellbeing, But Don't Ask Him About the Younglings

Darth Vader has arrived in Fortnite, and your AI buddy has a death grip on all manner of cool and strange features, including the ability to serenade to you (provided you only expect him to sing Star Wars and Disney-related songs). As summarized by Epic Games partner Shiina, the Darth Vader AI can join and leave squads at will, respond intelligently to the player, issue cued and impromptu dialogue, summarize gameplay events, and warn the player if something's about to go down. Darth Vader will also apparently urge you to seek professional help "if he realizes that your well-being is at risk," saying: "You are valued, Trooper. Seek assistance from the authorities. Your well-being is paramount." If you've got a sweet spot for Vader, though, I'm sorry to inform you that Shiina reports "Darth Vader AI is NOT allowed to engage in a romantic relationship with players." And no, he won't tell you "what he did to the younglings," so don't risk his wrath by even asking. But why read about it when you see him in action? Here's Darth Vader AI popping up unexpectedly in Nick Eh 30's match: Darth Vader is, of course, voiced by the inimitable James Earl Jones, who sadly died in September 2024 at the age of 93. Epic Games said Darth Vader wouldn't be "nearly as sinister without the legendary performance of James Earl Jones," adding it was "honored to feature" his voice and thanking his estate for "the opportunity to make this happen for players." Though it didn't elaborate there on how Vader's voice was recreated, elsewhere in an FAQ, Epic explained that the dialogue of Darth Vader's responses is AI-generated using Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model, with the audio itself generated by ElevenLabs' Flash v2.5. In a statement, the family of James Earl Jones said: "James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character." Players under 13 or their country's age of digital consent, whichever is higher, will need their parent or guardian's permission to talk with Darth Vader. Parents can approve or deny Darth's shenanigans by heading to Epic Games' parental controls and selecting "allow voice and written communication with AI Features." Fortnite is celebrating Star Wars in a big way this season. Called Galactic Battle, it arrived on May 2 and features not only a Star Wars-themed Battle Pass and a five-part saga with plenty of surprises, but also the arrival of Darth Jar Jar to the Battle Royale. The news was shared during Star Wars Celebration, and we got a tease of even more of the Star Wars fun headed our way before the season is up. Earlier today, IGN reported that Epic's long-running battle with Apple over the future of Fortnite on iOS devices has taken yet another turn, with Epic accusing Apple of blocking its Fortnite submission so it can't release the game to the U.S. App Store. "Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the U.S. App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it," Epic told IGN. Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.