Meta is reportedly offering Hollywood celebrities millions of dollars to record their voices for the company’s artificial intelligence projects. According to Bloomberg, Meta is currently negotiating with several major stars, including Awkwafina, Judi Dench, and Keegan-Michael Key. These voices are intended for use in a Meta service similar to Siri and Google Assistant, aiming to unveil this suite of tools during Meta Connect next month.
The negotiations, however, have been challenging. Meta seeks the rights to use the celebrities’ voices over a fixed term on a single project, whereas the actors’ representatives are pushing for stricter terms. This tension highlights the complexities of integrating celebrity voices into AI, especially in light of recent debates over the ethical implications of using famous voices for AI training.
This development is particularly noteworthy as it follows Meta’s recent decision to scrap its first major AI initiative involving celebrity-inspired chatbots. The use of celebrity voices in AI has been a hot topic, especially during the recent SAG-AFTRA negotiations, reflecting broader concerns in the entertainment industry about AI’s impact.
Meta’s strategy is somewhat reminiscent of YouTube’s recent move to pay record labels to use artists’ music for AI training, signaling a trend among tech giants to leverage celebrity talent for enhancing AI capabilities.
