Labor talks aim to avoid another Hollywood strike

With the Big 3 unions opening negotiations — and SAG-AFTRA starting today — the entertainment industry is trying to head off a repeat of the 2023 writers and actors strikes. Many unresolved issues from those walkouts, particularly over AI and streaming residuals, remain sticking points, and decades of mistrust that surfaced in 2023 have not fully dissipated.

Still, the temperature is decidedly lower this time, far from the fiery rhetoric that preceded the last round of talks. Studios are not expected to dismantle the AI guardrails set in 2023, described as "meaningful," but the dispute centers on how performers are compensated when their work trains AI models, what restrictions apply and whether studios should face financial penalties for using AI performers in place of humans.

United States, Hollywood

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