US writers call on Hollywood studios to take action against AI firms

The guild urged studios to take “immediate legal action” against any tech firms that it says have used writers’ work to train their AI systems.

The WGA sent a letter to the chief executives of Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Paramount Global, NBCUniversal, Sony, Netflix and Amazon MGM Studios outlining its concerns. The letter was published in full by key Hollywood trades.

“It’s time for the studios to come off the sidelines,” the letter stated. “After this industry has spent decades fighting piracy, it cannot stand idly by while tech companies steal full libraries of content for their own financial gain.”

The letter cited a recent article in The Atlantic titled There’s No Longer Any Doubt That Hollywood Writing is Powering AI which it said confirms that “tech companies have looted the studios’ intellectual property – a vast reserve of works created by generations of union labour – to train their artificial intelligence systems.” 

The letter said: “The studios, as copyright holders of works written by WGA members, have done nothing to stop this theft. They have allowed tech companies to plunder entire libraries without permission or compensation. The studios’ inaction has harmed WGA members.”

It added: “The studios should take immediate legal action against any company that has used our members’ works to train AI systems.”