Cate Blanchett, Cyndi Lauper, George Saunders, and various other creatives claim that AI companies are “seeking to alter the law to continue appropriating American artistry.”
Cate Blanchett, Cyndi Lauper, George Saunders, and various other creatives claim that AI companies are “seeking to alter the law to continue appropriating American artistry.”
Approximately 800 artists, writers, actors, and musicians have endorsed a new initiative against what they term “theft on a grand scale” perpetrated by AI companies. The participants of the campaign — titled “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” — feature authors George Saunders and Jodi Picoult, as well as actors Cate Blanchett and Scarlett Johansson, alongside musicians including the band R.E.M., Billy Corgan, and The Roots.
“Fueled by intense competition for dominance in the emerging GenAI landscape, profit-driven technology firms, encompassing some of the wealthiest globally as well as private equity-supported ventures, have unlawfully replicated a vast quantity of creative content online without permission or remuneration to its creators,” reads a press announcement. “This unlawful intellectual property seizure cultivates an information landscape overwhelmed by misinformation, deepfakes, and a soulless artificial flood of low-grade outputs [‘AI slop’], jeopardizing AI model integrity and posing a direct risk to America’s AI leadership and global competitiveness.”
The advocacy initiative stems from the Human Artistry Campaign, comprising a coalition of organizations, such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), unions for professional athletes, and performers unions like SAG-AFTRA. The Stealing Isn’t Innovation campaign messaging will be featured in full-page advertisements across media outlets and on various social platforms. Specifically, the endeavor seeks licensing agreements and “a robust enforcement landscape,” together with the right for creators to decline their work being employed to train generative AI.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump and his technology industry supporters have been working to manage how states govern AI and penalize those who attempt. Within the industry, technology firms and rights holders who were previously at odds are increasingly forming licensing agreements that allow AI companies to utilize protected works — content licensing appears to be a mutually agreeable solution, at least temporarily. Major record labels, for instance, have recently collaborated with AI music startups to supply their catalogs for AI remixing and model training. Digital publishers, some of whom have pursued legal action against AI companies training on their content, have endorsed a licensing standard that platforms can utilize to prevent their material from appearing in AI search outcomes. Certain outlets have signed specific agreements with technology firms that permit AI chatbots to feature news content (Disclosure: Vox Media, The Verge’s parent organization, maintains a licensing agreement with OpenAI.)
