August 03, 2024 – According to a report by Bloomberg early this morning, several sources familiar with the negotiations have revealed that Meta is offering millions of dollars to Hollywood celebrities in exchange for their voice recordings and the rights to use their voices in AI projects.
These sources indicated that the company is currently in talks with stars such as Judi Dench, Awkwafina, and Keegan-Michael Key. Due to the confidentiality of the project, the sources wished to remain anonymous, and representatives from Meta declined to comment.
Meta is rushing to finalize these deals to secure enough time for the development of an AI tool, which is scheduled to be unveiled at the Connect 2024 conference in September. While the specific use of these voices by Meta remains unclear, insiders have hinted at a potential chatbot that could function as a digital assistant, akin to Apple’s Siri, or even as a “friend” to users. This could enable conversations with chatbots featuring the voices of Hollywood celebrities.
Negotiations between Meta and some actor representatives have stalled and restarted multiple times due to disagreements over the terms of voice usage. Meta aims to acquire the rights to use the voices multiple times within a fixed period for a single project, while actor representatives seek more stringent restrictions.
The rising use of AI has caused concern among many in the Hollywood creative community, who fear they may lose their jobs due to this technology. Reports suggest that SAG-AFTRA, the main actors’ union, has already reached an agreement with Meta on the terms.
It has also been reported that Meta previously attempted to create a text-based chatbot inspired by celebrities like Dwyane Wade and Paris Hilton, but this project has been scrapped. Additionally, Meta has launched an AI studio where content creators can craft their own chatbots.
