{"id":231866,"date":"2026-01-11T02:04:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T02:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/231866\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T02:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T02:04:06","slug":"sag-aftra-is-keeping-an-eye-on-the-disney-openai-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/231866\/","title":{"rendered":"SAG-AFTRA Is Keeping an Eye on the Disney\/OpenAI Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the end of 2025, Disney surprised everyone (derogatory) by entering into a $1 billion deal with OpenAI<\/a>. With it, over 200 Disney characters have been licensed for the Sora video platform and image generator ChatGPT. From the general public and Hollywood alike, reactions weren\u2019t exactly thrilled<\/a>, but SAG-AFTRA is keeping an open mind. Sort of.<\/p>\n

Talking to Deadline<\/a> at CES, union presidents Sean Astin and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland were asked what the deal could mean for the acting industry. In 2023 and 2024, SAG-AFTRA went on strike to secure better protections against synthetic performers and actors being made to sign their voice rights away. Crabtree-Ireland admitted he doesn\u2019t know the full details of the agreement made between the two companies but revealed they contacted SAG-AFTRA before the public reveal.<\/p>\n

In the call announcing the deal, \u201ctop execs\u201d from Disney and OpenAI said the deal has \u201ccertain assurances,\u201d such as \u201cexplicitly excluding any licensing of any performer images or voices,\u201d explained Crabtree-Ireland.\u00a0\u201cOne concern I have, and I expect Sean shares, is precisely why Disney would want to do it. Making a deal like that before the IP litigation, copyright litigation is resolved, could be smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Disney can\u2019t be stopped from partnering with OpenAI, SAG-AFTRA knows it\u2019s made progress where it can. Crabtree-Ireland noted the union\u2019s contract from 2023 requires companies to proactively disclose if they\u2019ve created and used a synthetic performance, of which there\u2019ve been \u201czero notices\u201d about so far. But they\u2019re not stopping there: every future negotiation SAG-AFTRA takes part in will involve \u201clooking at how AI is rolling out and developing.\u201d Machine learning technology has greatly evolved in recent years, and the hope is to \u201ccontinue creating separation between AI, as an algorithmic tool, and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before the end of 2025, Disney surprised everyone (derogatory) by entering into a $1 billion deal with OpenAI.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,343,344,4550,85,46,1748,13409,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-231866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-disney","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-openai","15":"tag-sag-aftra","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}