California governor signs AI protection bills into law at SAG-AFTRA headquarters

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law two bills supported by SAG-AFTRA granting individuals greater control over the use of their voice and likeness.

The Guild sponsored both bills and has been a leading Hollywood advocate of AI guardrails. It secured some measure of protections for performers during contract renewal negotiations with Hollywood studios, streamers and networks last year, following months-long strike action and fiery rhetoric from both sides.

Tuesday’s signing ceremony at SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles headquarters enacted AB 2602, which requires informed consent by performers prior to specified use of digital replicas of their voice or likeness in place of actual services. It is the first law of its kind in the United States.

AB 1836 provides updated protections to the voice and likeness rights of dead performers and prohibits use of their voice or likeness in digital replicas without prior consent from their estate. The bill updates existing law and removes exemptions for film, television, and audiovisual works.

Newsom signed the bills at SAG-AFTRA Plaza with the Guild’s president Fran Drescher, secretary-treasurer Joely Fisher, and national executive director & chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland in attendance.

“AI poses a threat not just to performers in the entertainment industry, but to workers in all fields, in all industries everywhere,” said Drescher. ”No technology should be introduced into society without extreme caution and careful consideration of its long-term impact on humanity and the natural world.”

SAG-AFTRA is backing the bipartisan NO FAKES Act, which would impose federal restrictions on the use of generative AI to exploit voices and likenesses.

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