Meta is aiming to bring Hollywood to your fingertips. The tech giant is reportedly negotiating with a slew of celebrities, including Awkwafina, Judi Dench, and Keegan-Michael Key, to incorporate their voices into its upcoming AI assistant, MetaAI.
The plan is to create a conversational AI that can interact with users in a more natural and engaging way. Think of it as a more sophisticated version of Siri or Google Assistant, but with the added charm of celebrity voices.
However, negotiations have been fraught with challenges. Both Meta and the celebrities are trying to strike a balance between allowing Meta to use their voices and protecting their rights. The company is reportedly seeking broad rights to use the voices across its platforms, while the celebrities are pushing for stricter limitations.
SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, has been closely involved in these negotiations. The union fought hard to establish protections for actors in the face of AI-driven job losses. Under the terms of the agreement, companies must obtain actors’ consent and pay them for the use of their AI-generated likenesses.
Meta is hoping to finalize these deals before its Connect conference in September. The company is expected to unveil a host of new AI products at the event. However, it’s worth noting that Meta recently scrapped a similar project involving celebrity-voiced chatbots.
While Meta’s AI ambitions are ambitious, the company faces significant challenges in securing the rights to celebrity voices. The negotiations with these actors are likely to be complex and may take time to resolve.