Jack Osbourne is clapping back at criticism over the return of his father, Ozzy Osbourne, as an AI-powered avatar.
Jack and his mother, Sharon Osbourne, made the announcement during a discussion about the future of Ozzy’s brand at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas on Wednesday (May 20).
The Osbourne family has partnered with digital human tech company Hyperreal to create an Ozzy avatar with the ability to “have conversations with fans and move, speak, and respond as Ozzy would,” according to Hyperreal. “It’s kind of scary how it’s really very accurate,” Jack said at the event. “He will exist digitally as himself for as long as we have computers.”
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The Ozzy avatar will begin appearing in life-sized, interactive touchscreens in the U.S. and U.K. beginning in late summer 2026, Hyperreal told Billboard.
News of Ozzy’s return as an AI-powered avatar sparked backlash online, with some fans criticizing the concept as disrespectful or overly commercial. The iconic Black Sabbath frontman passed away in July 2025 at the age of 76.
“Poor dude’s soul was literally floating away but was quickly lassoed by Sharon and then yanked back down to earth, where he’ll be on digital life support and forced to continue dancing for every sad soul who wants to ask him a question…except it’s not even him,” one user wrote on X.
Another added, “Wow! A year hasn’t even passed since Ozzy’s passing and they are already trying to commercialize and profit from his memory.”
“Can’t just let his legacy speak for itself, this would be f—kin disgraceful,” a third skeptic commented.
“Here’s the thing, it’s gonna be so tasteful what we’re doing. It’s not gonna be f—king lame,” he said. “It’s really complex what we’re doing. This isn’t just like hooking up an image of my dad to ChatGPT. This is some high-level technology that we’re gonna be working with, and it’s gonna feel very real, and it’s kind of wild how it will be utilized.”
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Jack also said the idea had been discussed with his father before his death.
“It’s really cool, and it’s something that I think my dad would be into,” he said. “We actually talked about it before he passed, about doing something like this. So, yeah. I know he would be into this.”
