Remember when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA went on strike for months, primarily to get protection against AI? Well, while they did put some conditions in place, that’s still not stopping AI from coming to Hollywood.
Lionsgate, the studio behind the John Wick and Hunger Games franchises, has struck a deal with AI startup Runway, The Wall Street Journal first reported and Runway confirmed in a press release. Under the arrangement, Runway will get access to Lionsgate’s content library in exchange for a new, custom AI model that the studio can use in production and editing.
The deal is similar to (and equally strange sounding) deals recently struck with publishing houses like TIME and Dotdash Meredith, but it’s the first of its kind for the film and TV industry.
Lionsgate Studios Vice President Michael Burns said in recent months they feared falling behind competitors without such a move.
Burns said, “Runway is a visionary, best-in-class partner that will help us use AI to develop cutting-edge, capital efficient content creation opportunities.” He then claimed, “Many of our filmmakers are already excited about its potential applications in their pre-production and post-production process.”
There’s also the small matter that he expects the company to save “millions and millions of dollars” through this deal. Whether that money will come from creatives’ paychecks is something we can only speculate about right now, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
As Lionsgate’s new partner, like many AI companies, Runway has faced accusations of stealing content to train its systems. In July a former employee came forward with an alleged internal spreadsheet showing that Runway used YouTube videos from Disney, Netflix, and popular media outlets to train its Gen-3 model.
A group of artists is also suing other players like Runway and Stability AI for copyright infringement, reports Artnet. The plaintiffs won in August, when California District Judge William Orrick found that they had properly argued that these companies had violated the artists’ rights.