Meta and Google are offering millions of dollars to Hollywood studios to make licensing deals that could develop video models created by artificial intelligence. Although the companies are said to have offered “tens of millions of dollars,” it is unclear what will come of the talks.
According to the news; Netflix and Disney are not willing to license their content. However, both companies are interested in other types of collaborations. Warner Brothers is said to be looking to license some of Discovery's shows.
While Meta's spokesperson did not comment; Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apparently, companies hope such deals will help improve video creation tools. Google recently showed off a text-to-video model called Veo and tapped Donald Glover to promote its capabilities. Meta also explores AI-generated videos.
Apart from Meta and Google, OpenAI is also pursuing licensing agreements
There has been an arms race among artificial intelligence companies to make licensing agreements with media companies. OpenAI and NewsCorp announced a multi-year agreement to bring news content to ChatGPT earlier this week. Meta is also considering paying publishers to access “news, photo and video content” to train AI models.
Hollywood studios may have some reservations about such deals. While AI editing tools are attractive, there are widespread concerns in the entertainment industry about how AI companies can use their creative work. This tension was on full display when Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of copying her voice for its “Sky” assistant on ChatGPT after she refused to partner with the company. OpenAI has denied allegations that it tried to imitate his voice, but the company has yet to explain Sam Altman's tweet.