Google Courts Hollywood for AI Licenses, but Talent Rights Are Holding Up Deals

Google has approached Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and other studios about licensing intellectual property for use in AI models. The outreach puts the company’s entertainment ambitions in direct negotiation with Hollywood’s unresolved concerns over copyrighted training material, performer likenesses and labor protections. No licensing agreements have been reached.

The talks are not confined to one product. Google and studios have discussed potential uses of Google AI tools in film and television production, alongside licenses that would allow studio characters to appear in AI-generated outputs. An unnamed industry insider said large-scale production use would require models fine-tuned on dynamic Hollywood content and metadata.

The outreach reverses the posture that defined Google’s earlier clashes with studios over unauthorized clips on YouTube. Viacom sued Google for $1 billion in 2007 over alleged copyright infringement; the case settled in 2014. Studios now use YouTube to market programming, while Google’s Content ID system flags videos and gives rights holders a way to earn advertising revenue from them.

Google has already been building ties that could make its pitch more credible inside the industry. In June, it invested $75 million in A24 through a strategic partnership to collaborate on AI tools, and it also has a partnership with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s venture Primordial Soup. Those arrangements are distinct from the still-unfinished licensing discussions with major studios.

YouTube has also approached talent agencies and studios about likeness-detection technology intended to flag AI-generated material that may infringe copyright or alter celebrity faces. The discussions include a possible route to monetize videos that rights holders or talent choose to leave online.

But some companies are wary of the proposed terms. Sources said Google asked some participants to waive their right to sue the company if they joined the likeness-detection effort. That request is especially sensitive because Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter last year accusing it of using Disney copyrighted material without authorization to train AI systems.

The negotiations also sit alongside contractual AI protections for writers, directors and actors. SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, said no major studio has notified the guild of a new AI licensing deal, as studios are required to do under their agreement with the performers union.

That leaves the next move unresolved: whether Google and a studio can define licenses that cover valuable characters and production data without weakening copyright claims, performer protections or union commitments. NBCUniversal said it is not in active conversations with Google about licensing its intellectual property for AI models, while Google, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.