Lionsgate Is Trading Its Movies and TV Shows for Custom AI
AI was one of the central concerns in summer 2023's Hollywood trade union strikes, including The Writers Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Directors Guild of America. The new deals the unions eventually ratified set a foundation for protections surrounding AI. But AI continues to be a concern for Hollywood, as SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a speech at the guild's 2024 award show, "AI will entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what's real."
Some of these artists' concerns have led to legal action. Earlier this year, Runway AI and Stable Diffusion, which makes the models behind image generators like Midjourney, were sued by a group of visual artists alleging that their AI models infringe on their copyrights. The case is ongoing.
Runway's tools aren't ready yet to produce images and video for TV and movies, its CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela said to The WSJ. The company hopes to have "refined" creator tools ready in the next 12 months.