Overview
- The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol published a nearly five-minute video titled 'El llamado' on Monday that revealed Mexico’s 26-player roster for the 2026 World Cup using an AI-generated recreation of Roberto Gómez Bolaños’s voice.
- Roberto Gómez Fernández, Bolaños’s son, issued a public statement saying the family authorized and supported the tribute and that his father would have been proud to take part.
- The video pairs the recreated voice with archival images of Chespirito’s characters and the line “Los que cruzaron el mundo sembrando México” to link the team announcement to Mexican culture and nostalgia.
- The piece went viral and drew mixed reactions online, with many fans praising the emotional homage and others questioning the ethics of digitally recreating a deceased public figure’s voice.
- The release has sharpened an ongoing public discussion about AI likenesses, with no reported legal challenges so far and attention likely to focus next on transparency about the technology and similar uses by other institutions.