Meta, the tech giant behind platforms like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Ray-Ban Meta glasses, is reportedly engaging in talks with celebrities including Awkwafina, Judi Dench, and Keegan-Michael Key to feature their voices in its new AI product, MetaAI.
According to Bloomberg and The New York Times, these negotiations are part of Meta’s plan to incorporate celebrity voices into a conversational AI assistant, similar to Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant.
The company’s aim is to record these celebrities’ voices and secure the rights to use them across various platforms for diverse applications. However, negotiations have been challenging, with discussions starting and stopping multiple times due to disagreements over the terms of use.
As of now, a temporary agreement has been reached, allowing Meta to use the recorded voices for a specified period. These agreements may be renewed or extended once the initial contracts expire.
SAG-AFTRA’s Agreement with Meta
While some terms have been settled, the actors’ representatives are advocating for stricter limitations on voice usage.
Notably, SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, has reportedly reached an agreement with Meta. This follows SAG-AFTRA’s strike last year, which established provisions to protect actors from job loss due to AI. These provisions require companies to pay actors and obtain their consent before using their AI-generated likenesses. If Meta finalizes these deals, it could result in substantial payments to the actors involved, potentially amounting to millions of dollars in fees.
Meta aims to conclude these negotiations before its Connect conference in September, where it plans to launch several AI products.
At the same event last year, Meta introduced a chatbot platform featuring 28 characters voiced by celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Dwyane Wade, and Kendall Jenner. However, according to The Information, Meta has since quietly discontinued this project, with the celebrity chatbot pages being removed from Facebook and Instagram.
Featured Image courtesy of Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
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