Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra says the company is "very focused on AI" and wants to use the technology to make movies and TV shows more efficiently. Alphabet, Meta, and OpenAI are also pitching their AI video generators to Hollywood studios.
Sony Pictures plans to utilize generative AI to reduce film production expenses. At an investor meeting in Japan, CEO Tony Vinciquerra stated that the company wants to embed AI into the filmmaking process to optimize production, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"We’ll be looking at ways to use AI to produce films for theaters and television in more efficient ways, using AI primarily," Vinciquerra said.
Aside from Sony Pictures, tech giants like Alphabet, Meta, and OpenAI are also making moves in the movie industry. Bloomberg reports that Alphabet and Meta have offered Hollywood studios millions of dollars to partner on creating AI-generated videos.
Disney and Netflix aren't licensing their data for AI training (yet)
Studios are keen to leverage generative AI to lower costs but don't want to lose control over their content, which is needed to train the models.
Per Bloomberg, Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to license some of its shows for AI model training, but only in specific areas, not its entire library. Disney and Netflix aren't licensing their content, but are open to other types of partnerships.
OpenAI is reportedly also meeting with movie studios, media execs, and talent agencies in LA to establish entertainment industry collaborations. Its Sora AI can generate one-minute videos and is set to launch later this year.
US actor and director Tyler Perry recently made waves by pausing an $800 million expansion of his Atlanta studio after seeing OpenAI's Sora AI video generator. He voiced worries about how AI tech could impact jobs in the movie business and pushed for rules to safeguard those roles.