Ben Stiller, Aubrey Plaza Among More Than 400 Stars Who Urge Trump to Stop OpenAI’s Push to ‘Exploit’ Hollywood

Hundreds of stars, including Ben Stiller, Paul McCartney, Aubrey Plaza and Olivia Wilde are urging the Trump Administration to push back on proposals from OpenAI and Google that would allow the tech giants to more easily use copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence.

More than 400 stars and entertainment executives, in an open letter sent to the White House this past weekend that was obtained by TheWrap, argued such a move would “freely exploit America’s creative and knowledge industries, despite [OpenAI and Google’s] substantial revenues and available funds.” The letter added there is “no reason” to weaken or eliminate copyright protections in order to help AI models improve.

The letter comes after OpenAI and Google shared their plans with the White House last week on how to bolster America’s AI industry. OpenAI, in its proposal last Thursday, said more laissez-faire copyright laws would promote “the freedom to learn” and help “protect” America’s national security. Allowing AI models to leverage copyrighted materials would also “strengthen America’s lead” against China’s communist government when it comes to AI development, OpenAI argued; Google made a similar claim in its own proposal filed last week.

That reasoning did not sit well with the stars and executives who reached out to the government, though.

“We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at
the expense of our essential creative industries,” the open letter said.

The letter said America’s arts and entertainment industry supports 2.3 million citizens and contributes $229 billion in wages annually, while also providing the “foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad.” That would all be compromised, they said, if AI models are able to lift copyrighted work without paying for it.

“AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks,
writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate valuations,” the letter said.

Other stars who signed the letter include: Adam Scott, Guillermo del Toro, Natasha Lyonne, Cynthia Erivo, Cate Blanchett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Cord Jefferson, Bette Midler, Cate Blanchett, Ava Duvernay, Paul Simon, Ángel Manuel Soto, Ron Howard, Taika Waititi, Ayo Edebiri, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily Gladstone, Sam Mendes, Brit Marling, Janelle Monáe, Bryn Mooser, Rian Johnson, Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gylenhall, Alfonso Cuaron, Judd Apatow, Kim Gordon, Chris Rock, Mark Ruffalo, Juliette Lewis, and Michaela Coel.

The letter added that this is an issue that not only threatens the entertainment industry, but “impacts all of America’s knowledge industries.” That includes the work of writers, philosophers, photographers, scientists, engineers, designers, doctors, and architects, among other professions, the letter said.

“America didn’t become a global cultural powerhouse by accident,” the letter added. “Our success stems directly from our fundamental respect for IP and
copyright that rewards creative risk-taking by talented and hardworking Americans from every state and territory.”

The letter, which is not available publicly, was submitted to the White House Office of Science and Technology ahead of a midnight deadline on Saturday, March 15. The signees said they will continue to accept signatures and plan on submitting an updated statement in the near future.

The post Ben Stiller, Aubrey Plaza Among More Than 400 Stars Who Urge Trump to Stop OpenAI’s Push to ‘Exploit’ Hollywood appeared first on TheWrap.