OpenAI says it will court Hollywood in meetings with movie studios, directors

OpenAI wants to get into the film industry.

The artificial intelligence startup plans to hold a meeting with Hollywood studios, media executives and talent agencies in Los Angeles next week to forge partnerships in the entertainment industry and encourage filmmakers to bring its new artificial intelligence technology to the market, according to people familiar with the matter. Video generator integrated into their work.

The upcoming conference is just the latest round of OpenAI’s outreach in recent weeks, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In late February, OpenAI scheduled an introductory conversation in Hollywood hosted by Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap. Along with several of his colleagues, Lightcap demonstrated the capabilities of Sora, a new, unreleased service that can generate realistic videos of about a minute long based on text prompts from users. A few days later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attended a party in Los Angeles during Oscars weekend.

The makers of ChatGPT launched Sora in mid-February with a series of high-definition clips that immediately caught the attention of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Sora is not yet available to the public, but OpenAI has granted access to some big-name actors and directors.

“OpenAI has a thoughtful strategy to roll out AI advancements in phases through an iterative deployment process in partnership with industry to ensure safe implementation and educate people about what’s coming,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement middle. “We look forward to an ongoing dialogue with artists and creatives.”

Artificial intelligence is a controversial topic in Hollywood. Many filmmakers and studios already rely on AI in pre- and post-production and recognize the promise of new AI tools. But the rise of generative AI services — which can quickly output text, images, audio and, increasingly, short videos in response to user queries — has also raised hopes of disrupting everyone from illustrators to voice actors. Livelihood concerns.

Writers and actors went on strike last year, in part to fight for protections for the use of the technology. Both unions later developed some safeguards for the use of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry. Media companies are also wary of allowing OpenAI to train its models in their work without compensation. According to Bloomberg, media outlets including CNN, Fox, and Time Magazine have held discussions about licensing their works to OpenAI.

OpenAI is courting Hollywood as it tries to catch up with rivals. Tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have previously announced text-to-video research projects. A growing number of well-funded AI startups, including Runway AI Inc., Pika and Stability AI, are also working on the technology.

Market leader Runway previously told Bloomberg that its second-generation text-to-video service is already used by millions of people, including professionals in production and animation studios who rely on the service for previews and storyboarding. Film editors also use Runway to create video and combine it with other footage to create B-rolls or visual effects, the company said.

OpenAI’s Sora is still in research preview, and the company said it hasn’t set pricing yet.

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