As Governor Newsom passes two new laws protecting celebrities from deepfakes, Lionsgate has handed over their film and TV library to be mined by AI firm Runway in the hope of cutting development costs. Plus, what’s up with Meta’s AI celebrity chatbots? Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw break down how tech companies continue to tighten their grip on Hollywood.
Mining for gold? Lionsgate took a leap of faith in making a deal with AI firm Runway. The studio is handing over their film and television library to be mined with the hopes of gaining insight into their production efficiency. “If this AI deal can help them cut costs and also make a little extra money, more power to them,” says Lucas Shaw.
Will Runway run away with the goods? As a smaller company, Runway sees its partnership with Lionsgate as a foot in the door to compete with larger AI powerhouses. But can they be trusted? “Runway is a company that has already gotten in some trouble for allegedly scraping YouTube videos,” Belloni explains. “On the one hand, it's not quite as scary because they don't have as much power… But that may lead them to cut a few extra corners, because they're trying to make headway into Hollywood and get some of these studios to work with them.”
An AI Awkwafina enters the (Meta) chat? Meta is scouting celebrities like John Cena and Awkwafina to lend their voices for a guild endorsed AI chatbot. “SAG-AFTRA has been very clear that it does not want to stop AI projects,” says Belloni. “They want their members to be able to profit from it. From everything I've been told about this endeavor, the talent is getting paid pretty significantly here.”