After finalizing a tentative agreement with major Hollywood studios, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has officially concluded its 118-day strike. The union announced that it has successfully secured a contract exceeding $1 billion in value, which includes pay raises above the industry standard, as well as groundbreaking safeguards to protect individuals from the encroachment of artificial intelligence (AI). The newly negotiated contract encompasses a wide array of provisions, such as unprecedented minimum compensation increments and innovative measures to shield members from AI-related challenges.
Following a thorough review and deliberation by its regional board scheduled for Friday, the union will release further details regarding the agreement. The primary stumbling block that delayed the agreement was the issue of conceptual AI. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had proposed utilizing AI scans of Schedule F performers, particularly those earning more than \(32,000 per television episode or \)60,000 per film, allowing studios to reuse their likeness without additional compensation, even posthumously, a practice reported by The Hollywood Reporter. However, recent reports from Variety suggest that AMPTP has agreed to revise the contentious language in its AI proposal, leading to the initial accord.
In a parallel development, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has also officially resolved its strike after reaching an agreement that includes provisions related to AI. The new terms explicitly prohibit studios from employing conceptual AI to author or revise creative content, ensuring that any material generated through AI is not recognized as source material under the revised terms. Additionally, the agreement mandates transparency, requiring studios to disclose any AI-generated content provided to writers and prohibits the coercion of writers to utilize conceptual AI tools. Notably, the agreement expressly forbids the use of artists’ work for the training of AI systems.
