Actors, Creators Launch Coalition to Push AI Rules Amid Ongoing Legal Battles
TL;DR
A coalition of entertainment creators launched to push for AI rules, focusing on ethical standards beyond labor unions. It responds to industry disputes over AI use without clear guidelines for creators.
Key Takeaways
- •The Creators Coalition on AI aims to establish voluntary standards for AI training and use in entertainment, distinct from labor unions.
- •Co-founder Joseph Gordon-Levitt emphasizes the threat comes from unethical business practices, not AI technology itself, which could benefit creativity if managed ethically.
- •The group includes diverse creators beyond Hollywood, such as YouTubers and podcasters, and plans to use public pressure, litigation, and legislation to influence policies.
- •This initiative follows strikes and lawsuits over AI issues like copyright and likeness rights, with support from over 500 industry figures and guilds.
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A coalition of writers, actors, and technologists launched a new industry group on Tuesday to push for enforceable rules governing how artificial intelligence is trained and used across the entertainment industry.
The move follows disputes over AI that have escalated into strikes, lawsuits, and policy battles across Hollywood and the digital media economy.
The Creators Coalition on AI positions itself as a cross-industry effort, distinct from labor unions or collective bargaining, focusing on establishing voluntary standards that can influence broader industry practices and policies.
Co-founder and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt said the group was sparked by filmmaker Daniel Kwan, one-half of the directing duo behind Everything Everywhere All at Once.
In a video posted on X, Gordon-Levitt said the group was responding to how some companies have rushed to deploy AI and strike deals without clear rules for creators.
“We’re all facing the same threat, not from generative AI as a technology, but from the unethical business practices many big AI companies are guilty of,” Gordon-Levitt said. “I’ve said this before: I think the tech itself is exciting and inspiring. It could mean a lot for the future of art and creativity, but that won’t happen by itself if we take the path of least resistance.”
Gordon-Levitt said the coalition was designed to extend beyond the traditional entertainment industry.
“This is not just artists,” he said. “It’s all the highly skilled people who work around them, and it’s not just Hollywood. It includes YouTubers, podcasters, newsletter writers, really all creators.”
The group’s launch follows years of critics warning that AI tools could be used to replicate scripts, voices, and performances without consent or compensation.
Those issues became central during the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes in 2023 and have since fueled lawsuits over copyright, training data, and likeness rights.
Since the strikes, several US states have enacted laws regulating AI, but those efforts now face challenges from the Trump Administration, which seeks to create a national standard.
Other founding members of the Creators Coalition on AI include actress and director Natasha Lyonne, filmmaker David Goyer, Center for Humane Technology co-founder Randima Fernando, and Berggruen Institute president Dawn Nakagawa.
Gordon-Levitt said the group was built on the idea that creators could use public pressure, collective action, and, if necessary, litigation and legislation to assert their influence.
“Creators actually have a lot of power if we come together,” he said.
More than 500 people signed the coalition’s letter, including Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Ben Affleck, Guillermo del Toro, Aaron Sorkin, Ava DuVernay, and Taika Waititi, followed by members of the Directors Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, the Writers Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, and IATSE, alongside independent artists, executives, and technologists.
“We built this for the long haul, but we're here, and we're in the game,” Gordon-Levitt said. “That's the important thing for today.”