Sharon Osbourne has insisted that creating an AI version of her late husband, Ozzy Osbourne, isn't a "cash grab."
The 73-year-old and her son, Jack Osbourne, defended their family's decision to digitize the late Black Sabbath rocker during an appearance on The Osbournes podcast on Friday, June 5.
When Jack brought up some of the criticism they had received after announcing in May that Ozzy would be the subject of an AI avatar, Sharon responded: "I was reading some of them, and it's like, 'Oh, [expletive] off. Give me a break."
She continued: "But the thing is, it's like saying when there were propellers and then there were jet planes. 'Oh, well, cash grab! Why go on a jet when there's a propeller? What are you doing?'
"Well, you know what, technology moves on. And I'm sorry for those people. I'm not asking you to come. I don't want your [expletive] money. I don't need your [expletive] money. I'm doing very well."
But she wasn't done there. Shutting down the critics further, Sharon added: "And the thing is, for somebody to turn around to me and say I'm doing a cash grab? No, you don't know my husband, OK? I know my husband.
© WireImage"And my husband would say to me over and over, 'After I go, how long do you think I'll be remembered? How long do you think?' And I go, 'I just don't know, cause I'll probably be going with you. So, don't ask me.'"
She later added: "[It's something] that will pass on through our family, and it's for our grandkids."
Jack added of the project: "I have so much I want to unpack with this because what we're doing ... isn't ChatGPT with dad's face on it.
© Getty Images"This is a closed AI. So it's not connected to the internet. We build a database. And the thing that I cannot emphasize enough is that this is only information that either my dad said or was accurate or was written accurately."
He noted that Ozzy's AI will "be tasteful and the reaction… It's innovative. It's either we do it or someone else is gonna do it. For me, it's not about pretending he's still alive. It's making sure he's never forgotten."
© Getty ImagesHe added: "The most important thing for me is that when we create this digital imprint of dad, we create it. We own it. We control it."
Sharon and Jack announced Ozzy's AI digital avatar at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas in May, revealing it would be released this summer in the U.S. and the U.K.
© Getty Images"It's kind of scary how it's really very accurate," Jack reportedly said at the event. "He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers. Technology has come such a long way to where it's almost drag and drop.
"You could shoot a template for a commercial… literally prompt what you want Digital Ozzy to do in that commercial and you just drop it in. It's that simple now."
