OpenAI is partnering with Apple to give the iPhone maker a role on its board, Bloomberg reported, giving the Sam Altman-led firm another foothold in Hollywood. Facilitation is provided as the industry catches on to artificial intelligence tools that have the potential to enhance creators' livelihoods as well as productivity. Who are worried about being replaced by tech.
As part of the seismic deal announced last month, Apple App Store chief and former marketing chief Phil Schiller will take on a so-called “observer” role, according to Bloomberg. Under the deal, he will be able to attend board meetings and get a glimpse of the company's operations – part of which includes pitching its products to Hollywood – but will not be allowed to vote. It won't happen.
The move follows the unveiling in February of OpenAI, an AI tool capable of creating highly realistic videos. In response to a text prompt of just a few sentences, it can create videos of seemingly complex scenes with multiple characters, an array of different types of shots and mostly accurate details of the subjects regarding their backgrounds. Beta testers, who are providing feedback to OpenAI to improve the tech, are developing their own projects using Sora as part of the company's Hollywood Blitz.
Apple's growing partnership with OpenAI further calls into question the stance of major studios and the Motion Picture Association, which has joined Disney, Warner Bros. over issues related to the use of intellectual property to train AI systems. Counts Discovery and Netflix among its members. OpenAI is facing lawsuits from many corners of the creative industry, including artists, writers and music publishers, alleging that it misappropriated copyrighted material to the tune of multibillion dollars. Going because it seems to encroach on the entertainment industry.
Asked by CNBC whether AI companies have “effectively stolen the world's IP,” Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Sulaiman replied, “Anyone can copy it, recreate it, It can be recreated with it being 'freeware', if you will.
With AI among the most divisive topics in Hollywood, creators have taken note of comments from tech executives signaling a shift. OpenAI's chief technology officer said in June that the company's tools could potentially eliminate jobs. “Some creative jobs will probably disappear, but if the content that comes out of it isn't of a very high quality, they probably shouldn't be there.”
The studios are one of the most notable groups that have chosen not to sue AI companies, which can use copyrighted material in training data. AI image generators are increasingly returning nearly exact replicas of movie frames. When prompted with “Thanos Infinity War,” Midjourney — an AI program that translates text into hyper-realistic graphics — returns a framed image of the purple-skinned villain from a Marvel movie or promotional material. appears to have been taken, of which there are a few. No changes have been made. A shot of Tom Cruise in the cockpit of a fighter jet, from Top Gun: The Wandereris generated in the same way if the tool requests a frame from the movie.
Some of the MPA's new members, including Apple and Amazon, may have sown a divide among studios, which may choose to license their content catalogs to AI companies, as some publishers are doing. He is among the leaders in the industry developing and seeking to commercialize the tech.
In exploring policy questions at the intersection of AI and intellectual property in response to the Copyright Office, MPA came down on opposite sides of a number of hot-button issues with SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America. Joined by OpenAI, Meta and tech advocacy groups, the MPA disputed with unions whether unauthorized use of copyrighted material to train AI systems and potential infringement based on existing material. New legislation is needed to address the mass generation of do-it-yourselfers. The group maintained that existing intellectual property laws are sufficient to address the thorny legal issues posed by technology. This was in contrast to SAG-AFTRA's demand for a federal right of publicity law that would protect members' rights to exploit their images, voices and likenesses.
Earlier this month, the Chamber of Progress, a tech industry alliance whose members include Amazon, Apple and Meta, filed a lawsuit to defend the legality of using copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence systems. Campaign started.