Meta offering Hollywood stars millions of dollars for AI voice projects

By Lucas Shaw

Meta Platforms Inc. is offering Hollywood celebrities millions of dollars for the right to record and use their voices for artificial intelligence projects, according to several people familiar with the negotiations.
 

The company is talking with Judi Dench, Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project is confidential. Representatives for Meta declined to comment.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is racing to close deals so it has time to develop a suite of AI tools for unveiling at its Connect 2024 event in September. While it’s not entirely clear how Meta will be using the voices, it has discussed a chatbot that could serve as a digital assistant, à la Apple’s Siri, or a friend, the people said. Users could speak with a chatbot that has the voice of Awkwafina, for example.

Negotiations between Meta and some talent representatives have stopped and started many times because the parties can’t agree on terms for use of the actors’ voices. Meta would like to secure rights to voices for many uses over a fixed term on a single project. Representatives for the actors are seeking stricter limits. 

The use of artificial intelligence has spooked many in the Hollywood creative community who fear losing work as a result of the technology. Screenwriters and actors fought for protections against the use of AI during labor stoppages last year. Yet SAG-AFTRA, the primary unions for actors, has reached an agreement with Meta on terms, according to the people.

Meta has experimented with creating text-based chatbots inspired by celebrities like Dwyane Wade and Paris Hilton. The company has already ended that program. It has also unveiled an AI studio that allows content creators to make chatbots of themselves.