Video game performers on strike for almost a year over AI issues reach a tentative deal
The union for Hollywood's video game performers has reached a tentative contract with several video game companies that may bring an end to an almost year-long strike tied to the use of artificial intelligence.
Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike in July 2024 after negotiations with game industry giants came to a halt over artificial intelligence protections.
SAG-AFTRA said that the unregulated use of AI posed 'an equal or even greater threat' to performers in the video game industry than it does in film and television because the capacity to cheaply and easily create convincing digital replicas of performers' voices is widely available.
The performers were worried that unchecked use of AI could provide game makers with a means to displace them — by training an AI to replicate an actor's voice, or to create a digital replica of their likeness without consent.
'Patience and persistence has resulted in a deal that puts in place the necessary AI guardrails that defend performers' livelihoods in the AI age, alongside other important gains,' SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement.
The union had been negotiating with an industry bargaining group consisting of signatory video game companies, including divisions of Activision and Electronic Arts. Those companies include Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc.
SAG-AFTRA said that it anticipates that the terms of a strike suspension agreement will be finalized with the companies soon. Union members will remain on strike until such an agreement is reached.
The tentative contract deal still needs approval by the National Board and ratification by union membership.
Video game performers had previously gone on strike in October 2016, with a tentative deal reached 11 months later, in September 2017. That strike helped secure a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Verge
33 minutes ago
- The Verge
Inside Mark Zuckerberg's AI hiring spree
AI researchers have recently been asking themselves a version of the question, 'Is that really Zuck? ' As first reported by Bloomberg, the Meta CEO has been personally asking top AI talent to join his new 'superintelligence' AI lab and reboot Llama. His recruiting process typically goes like this: a cold outreach via email or WhatsApp that cites the recruit's work history and requests a 15-minute chat. Dozens of researchers have gotten these kinds of messages at Google alone. For those who do agree to hear his pitch (amazingly, not all of them do), Zuckerberg highlights the latitude they'll have to make risky bets, the scale of Meta's products, and the money he's prepared to invest in the infrastructure to support them. He makes clear that this new team will be empowered and sit with him at Meta's headquarters, where I'm told the desks have already been rearranged for the incoming team. Most of the headlines so far have focused on the eye-popping compensation packages Zuckerberg is offering, some of which are well into the eight-figure range. As I've covered before, hiring the best AI researcher is like hiring a star basketball player: there are very few of them, and you have to pay up. Case in point: Zuckerberg basically just paid 14 Instagrams to hire away Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Educators learn to use AI tools at Niswonger School Success Symposium
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – At this year's Niswonger Foundation School Success Symposium, teachers from around East Tennessee gathered to learn more about changing technology in the classroom, including the uses of AI. Niswonger Foundation CEO Steve Barnett said the topic of the symposium was chosen by the teachers attending. This year, Barnett said teachers decided to learn about how AI tools can be used in the classroom. 'It's emerging and it's going to continue to change over time,' Barnett said. 'And we want to make sure that it's something that teachers feel comfortable with because they see your students use it, teachers can use it and we want to make sure everybody has what they need to be able to be successful with our use of AI in the classroom.' 2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman spoke to over 600 teachers about how even though AI will change things, human connection with students will always be needed. Testerman said, for example, AI tools will not help students who may be nervous about a test. 'It is something that we're going to have to embrace because we want our students to be prepared for the future,' Testerman said. 'We just have to figure out a way to take in all the advantages that we can of ed tech while we maintain that spirit of humanity.' Live music, kids fishing day and more | Weekend events in the Tri-Cities Beth Zeisenis, also known as 'Beth Z, Your Nerdy Best Friend,' was this year's keynote speaker for the symposium. 'Teachers have such a tough time right now with the whole concept of AI and so what I tried to do was give them some tools that they can use right away, plus some bigger concepts about how it works and where it's going,' Zeisenis said. Zeisenis went through many AI programs including Chat GPT and Magic School Plus. She said teachers can use AI tools to complete small tasks such as making lesson plans. Zeisenis also said teachers need to have conversations with students about how to properly use AI instead of trying to stop students from using it altogether. 'We need to go into conversations with our students about trusting each other and about learning this together, because if we go in with a defensive posture, if we go in distrusting each other, then you have a challenge because it's there all the time,' Zeisenis SAID. 'It's going to be like calculators in our pockets. They're going to have it for the rest of their lives. So how can we teach students and each other how we can use that rather than being afraid of it or feeling like it's an affront to what's going on?' Zeisenis and Testerman both encourage East Tennessee teachers to talk to school administrators about the ways AI can be used in the classroom. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
37 minutes ago
- Fox News
Blake Lively seeks protective order against Justin Baldoni's team over Taylor Swift communications
Blake Lively is seeking a protective order against Justin Baldoni's team in response to its alleged "demands" to access Lively and Taylor Swift's private communications. According to documents obtained by People, Baldoni's team has "pursued [these communications] at the same time they have refused to produce to Ms. Lively the documents they publicly claimed to have received as part of a deal to withdraw their subpoenas to Ms. Swift and her counsel." The document, filed by Lively's lawyer, Esra Hudson, said, "Good cause exists for this request because it has been a tactic" of Baldoni's "to make Ms. Swift and her fan base central to their media strategy against Ms. Lively." A rep for Baldoni did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. A spokesperson for Lively told Fox News Digital, "Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer parties are still demanding access to Taylor Swift's private communications despite having already subpoenaed and then withdrawn that subpoena after they 'got all they needed.' "As reflected in today's filing, their intent to drag Taylor Swift into this was evident as far back as August 2024, when the crisis PR firm led by Melissa Nathan included her in their 'Scenario Planning' document … and flagged the 'TS fanbase' as something to take 'extremely seriously," the statement continued. "The ongoing attempts to once again try and use the world's biggest star as a PR tactic in this matter reflects a public unraveling of epic proportions and serves only to distract from the fact that Justin Baldoni's lawsuits against Ms. Lively, Ryan Reynolds, their publicist and the New York Times have been entirely dismissed." Swift was subpoenaed as a witness in the Lively-Baldoni dispute, but Baldoni's team has withdrawn the request, Fox News Digital confirmed in May. A source with direct knowledge of the case told Fox News Digita at the time, "When information is voluntarily received, there is no need for subpoenas." "The ongoing attempts to once again try and use the world's biggest star as a PR tactic in this matter reflects a public unraveling of epic proportions." Representatives for Lively expressed approval of the reversal at the time, saying they will continue to "stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process." "We are pleased that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties have withdrawn their harassing subpoenas to Taylor Swift and her law firm," Lively's team said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We supported the efforts of Taylor's team to quash these inappropriate subpoenas directed to her counsel, and we will continue to stand up for any third party who is unjustly harassed or threatened in the process. "The Baldoni and Wayfarer team have tried to put Taylor Swift, a woman who has been an inspiration for tens of millions across the globe, at the center of this case since day one. "Exploiting Taylor Swift's celebrity was the original plan in Melissa Nathan's scenario planning document, and it continues to this day," the statement added. "Faced with having to justify themselves in federal court, they folded. At some point, they will run out of distractions from the actual claims of sexual harassment and retaliation they are facing." After Swift was subpoenaed May 10, a spokesperson for the pop star denied her involvement in the 2024 film "It Ends With Us" aside from the licensing of her song "My Tears Ricochet," which was featured in the movie's trailer and used in one scene. "Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie. She was not involved in any casting or creative decisions. She did not score the film. She never saw an edit or made any notes on the film. She did not even see 'It Ends With Us' until weeks after its public release and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history," Swift's representative told Fox News Digital at the time. "The connection Taylor had to this film was permitting the use of one song, 'My Tears Ricochet,'" the spokesperson added. "Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift's name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case." Baldoni and Lively's legal fight is scheduled to go to trial before a New York court in March 2026. On Thursday, Swift was spotted with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, at the 2025 Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida.
