According to insiders, Google's parent companies Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. have discussed with major Hollywood film companies, hoping that they can license IP content for the artificial intelligence video generation software of these two tech giants.
It is reported that both companies are developing technology that can create realistic scenes based on text prompts and have provided tens of millions of dollars in funding to collaborate with film companies. In addition, Microsoft's supported competitor OpenAI is also engaging in similar conversations.
Hollywood film companies are enthusiastic about discussing how to use artificial intelligence to reduce costs while protecting their works from theft. However, at the same time, they are also cautious about handing over movies and TV programs to technology companies without controlling their use of these contents.
Be brave enough to try
However, overall, trying AI as a new technology is still the mainstream idea. For example, News Corporation and OpenAI announced on Wednesday a global partnership that will last for several years, OpenAI has obtained permission to display News Corporation content in its products.
News Corporation owns a series of media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron Weekly, and The Times. According to the Wall Street Journal, "insiders" stated that this agreement is for a period of 5 years and has a potential value of over $250 million, including compensation for cash and discounts on OpenAI technology usage rights.
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. has expressed willingness to authorize some of its content to train models, but only for specific departments, not all. Walt Disney and Netflix are unwilling to license their content to these technology companies, but have shown interest in other types of collaborations.
Hollywood film companies have already used artificial intelligence in their production, and many filmmakers have done the same. Renowned actor Tyler Perry used this technique to recreate the makeup of his Madea character in the movie. Director Robert Zemeckis uses artificial intelligence to age actor Tom Hanks in the upcoming movie.
Causing anxiety
While excited and curious about new technologies, the ability of artificial intelligence has also sparked anxiety in Hollywood. In particular, a group of cultural video tools, including Sora from OpenAI and Veo from Alphabet, are even more surprising in their ability: they promise to help filmmakers quickly create dynamic, surreal clips with just a few descriptions.
Actors and writers went on strike for several months last year, fearing that artificial intelligence would take away their jobs. Perry is an actor, filmmaker, and studio owner who was very surprised by Sora's presentation, so he shelved his $800 million studio expansion plan earlier this year.
He has been outspoken in talking about the opportunities that artificial intelligence brings to film companies, but also warned about the impact of this technology on labor. He called on the industry to unite and establish some kind of regulatory regulations. He said, "If not, I don't know how we survive."
The music industry has also taken a tough stance on the use of artificial intelligence. Universal Music Group has filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup Anthropic for plagiarism of lyrics and temporarily removed their music from TikTok. Sony Music Group wrote to hundreds of partners this month, warning them not to train any artificial intelligence models on their music.
So far, no major film company has sued a technology company for artificial intelligence. They hope to find a way for artificial intelligence to serve them, rather than confronting a new technology that may help reshape the industry. But the film company has not yet agreed to establish significant commercial relationships with large technology companies regarding the use of artificial intelligence.