Meta is courting Hollywood stars like Judi Dench, Keegan-Michael Key, and Awkwafina in multi-million dollar deals. The offer would give the tech company the right to record and use celebrity voices for AI-related projects.
According to Bloomberg, Meta is “racing to close deals” to formally introduce some of its new AI tools in time for its virtual tech conference, Connect 2024, in September. However, insiders familiar with these negotiations told Bloomberg that talks with Hollywood representatives broke down numerous times already.
Reportedly, both sides have been unable to agree on the exact terms of usage of the voices. The outlet claims that Meta is hoping to get more broad rights to voices to use over a fixed term for a singular project. The actors, on the other hand, want more stringent terms.
The AI race is on in Hollywood
Concerns over the use of AI in Hollywood were a driving force behind the 118-day strike by creators and performers represented by SAG-AFTRA last year. But since then, Bloomberg reports that the union has come to a broad agreement with Meta over its AI use.
This news comes after Meta’s rollout of AI chatbots in 2023, which caused a stir after using the likeness of celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Charli D’Amelio. In July, Meta also debuted a new tool that creators can use to create AI chatbots based on real-life or fictional personas.
Further reading:
- Creators Can Now Make AI Clones on Instagram
- Hollywood Studios Courted to Train Alphabet and Meta’s AI Software
- Should Creators Be Concerned About Meta’s AI Priorities?
- How to Influence Without Scabbing: A Confusing Guide to the SAG-AFTRA Strike
- Meta AI Launches This Month’s Featured Flavor of Techno-Dystopia and It’s a Kendall Jenner Chatbot
