Masako Nozawa, best known for voicing Goku in the Dragon Ball anime series, is slamming AI users for stealing her voice to create projects using the rapidly advancing technology, calling it outright “theft.”
If you’re an anime fan, you’ve likely seen a few fan-made videos that use AI to copy characters’ voices, making them say some absolutely outrageous stuff. This trend isn't limited to English-speaking fanbases; it's also happening quite frequently in Japan, to the point where voice actors have gathered together to create the country’s first-ever guidelines regarding the use of AI voices.
Perhaps the most prominent of these actors is 89-year-old Nozawa. She’s a prolific voice actor who has been working in the space for decades and is best known as the voice of Goku (as well as Son Gohan and oodles of Goku variants) in Dragon Ball.
In an October 15 interview with Japanese outlet NHK, Nozawa was shown an AI video that used her voice — and her response to it was nothing short of scathing.
"That's not my voice,” she told the outlet. “I can't forgive them for using it without permission; it's like theft, and it makes me furious. I believe my voice and my acting are my own. If they're going to use even a little bit of it, they should get my permission.
"The AI-generated voice may resemble me. It may even be identical. But it lacks heart, doesn't it? Without heart, it's no good, no matter what the role. Even if it's just a crying voice, I believe it's different if you cry with emotion."
On September 30, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the unauthorized use of someone’s voice infringes upon their right to publicity in a landmark decision for both the voice acting industry and AI regulations as a whole. It’s one of Japan’s first major protections against AI, and it follows a lawsuit from famous voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda against TikTok over a video that used AI to imitate his voice.
"Rules are now being established, so I hope everyone will follow them. It's all based on the premise that everyone will truly follow the rules,” Nozawa said of this ruling.
Rather than relying on AI, Nozawa encourages fans to work hard to become voice actors themselves. "I want you to work hard so that you become someone people will definitely remember as a voice actor,” she said. “If you don't put your heart into it, you'll just be reading the lines, so make them come alive."
Nozawa is vice-chairperson for the Japan Actors Union, which held a press conference on October 15 to discuss its new guidelines regarding AI voices. "The progress of AI is amazing, isn't it?” Nozawa said in a statement. “It feels like the things I dreamed of as a child are becoming reality one after another, and it excites me. But it's disillusioning when it's being used without permission. I hope that everyone will follow the rules and we can create a future where both humans and AI can have fun together."
She isn’t the only prominent voice actor with something to say about AI; Toshi Shimada, best known for his role as Tomozo in the anime Chibi Maruko-chan, said that he “simply cannot accept the idea of creating words I never said and songs I never sang, and then trying to monetize them. What I fear most is that the voice acting industry will collapse if unauthorized AI voices continue to be uploaded."
Michihiro Ikemizu, another prominent voice actor and Vice Chairman of the Union, explained that the “biggest problem is that people will lose their jobs. We want to build a track record with these guidelines and eventually aim for legislation."
This is the latest big news to come from AI voice acting after Amazon Prime Video caused a kerfuffle for introducing an AI-generated English dub of the anime Banana Fish back in 2025. The decision caused so much backlash that the streamer eventually removed it, but many fans felt that the fact it was included at all didn't bode well for the future of the dubbing industry.