--- description: Mark Zuckerberg is looking for a voice for his new artificially intelligent home assistant, and Robert Downey Jr. has offered his talents. title: Robert Downey Jr. Offers to Voice Mark Zuckerberg's AI image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc126ebdf609e95b9/6988aa0ce20a874c8da92ca3/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-assistant-ai.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Robert Downey Jr. Says He'll Be The Voice of Mark Zuckerberg's AI by [Michael Addady / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Michael Addady / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2016 6:08 PM CUT  Robert Downey Jr attends the ' Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows' photocall at Hotel Hassler on December 11, 2011 in Rome, Italy. Robert Downey Jr attends the ' Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows' photocall at Hotel Hassler on December 11, 2011 in Rome, Italy.Ernesto Ruscio—WireImage by [Michael Addady / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Michael Addady / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2016 6:08 PM CUT Mark Zuckerberg is looking for a voice for his new artificially intelligent home assistant, and Robert Downey Jr. has offered to save the day. Taking inspiration from the Tony Stark, the fictional superhero Downey Jr. plays in Marvel’s Iron Man, the real-life Mark Zuckerberg designed his own [AI assistant](http://fortune.com/2016/01/04/mark-zuckerberg-is-making-his-own-personal-ai-helper/ "undefined"). He’s even calling it AI Jarvis, named for Stark’s computerized butler, who is voiced by Paul Bettany. So it’s no surprise Downey Jr. responded to Zuckerberg’s Facebook post asking who should voice his new assistant. That is, Downey Jr. will do it under a couple of convoluted conditions. For example, Zuckerberg would have to pay Bettany, who would then donate the money to the charity of Benedict Cumberbatch’s choice. (Cumberbatch is set to start in Doctor Strange, the latest addition to the Marvel Universe.) Zuckerberg responded with, “This just got real.” Zuckerberg first announced his plans for AI Jarvis back in January. It essentially acts as a kind of artificially intelligent universal remote, and can do things like turn off the lights or adjust the temperature. In addition to domestic duties, Zuckerberg’s hope is that the digital helper will be able to assist with his work as well. As he said in January, “it’ll help me visualize data in VR to help me build better services and lead my organizations more effectively.” _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/10/14/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-jarvis/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4531684/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-ai-assistant/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4531684/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-ai-assistant/"},"headline":"Robert Downey Jr. Says He'll Be The Voice of Mark Zuckerberg's AI","datePublished":"2016-10-14T18:08:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:50:36.975Z","description":"\"This just got real,\" Zuckerberg said","url":"https://time.com/4531684/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-ai-assistant/","keywords":["Tech","Innovation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc126ebdf609e95b9/6988aa0ce20a874c8da92ca3/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-assistant-ai.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Addady / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc126ebdf609e95b9/6988aa0ce20a874c8da92ca3/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-assistant-ai.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"'Sherlock Holmes: Games Of Shadows' - Rome Photocall","caption":"'Sherlock Holmes: Games Of Shadows' - Rome Photocall","creditText":"Ernesto Ruscio—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4531684/robert-downey-jr-mark-zuckerberg-ai-assistant/","name":"Robert Downey Jr. Says He'll Be The Voice of Mark Zuckerberg's AI"}}]}] ```