Meta and Google Aim for AI Partnerships with Hollywood Studios

Meta and Google are actively courting Hollywood studios with lucrative offers in the hopes of securing licensing agreements that could revolutionize their AI-generated video capabilities, as per a recent report by Bloomberg. The reported offers amount to “tens of millions of dollars,” although the specific outcomes of these negotiations remain uncertain.

While Netflix and Disney have purportedly shown reluctance to license their content directly, they have expressed openness to exploring alternative forms of collaboration. On the other hand, Warner Brothers Discovery has signaled a potential willingness to license certain programs.

Official representatives from Meta declined to provide comment on the matter, while Google has yet to respond to inquiries. These tech giants appear to be banking on such agreements to propel the development of their video generation tools. Google recently showcased its text-to-video model, Veo, with the endorsement of Donald Glover. Meanwhile, Meta is actively engaged in research on AI-generated video content.

The realm of AI firms vying for licensing agreements with media entities has become akin to an arms race. Just this week, OpenAI and NewsCorp revealed a multi-year partnership aimed at integrating news content into ChatGPT. Additionally, Meta is reportedly contemplating compensating publishers for access to news, photo, and video content to bolster its AI training datasets, as reported by Business Insider.

However, as highlighted by Bloomberg, Hollywood studios may harbor reservations regarding these deals. While AI-driven editing tools hold allure, there exists widespread apprehension within the entertainment industry about potential misuse of creative works by AI companies. This tension came to a head recently when Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of replicating her voice for its “Sky” assistant in ChatGPT, following her refusal to collaborate with the company. OpenAI has refuted these allegations, though questions linger regarding a tweet by Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, pertaining to the matter.