Google is in talks with Hollywood studios about licenses to train Gemini AI models
According to the LA Times, Google is in talks with Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal about paid licenses to train Gemini AI models on their content—up to 40 million dollars for one character. The agreements have not yet been finalized.
According to the LA Times (cited by The Verge), Google is in talks with several major Hollywood studios about licensing agreements that would allow it to train Gemini AI models on their copyrighted content. The studios approached include Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal, but according to anonymous sources at the studios, none has officially committed yet. The information comes from anonymous sources, so this is not a confirmed agreement.
According to the sources, Google could pay a studio such as Disney/Pixar up to 40 million dollars just for the rights to generate outputs featuring one specific character; including more characters could increase the amount to billions of dollars. The studios could also receive a share of the advertising revenue that Google earns from AI-generated content featuring the brand in question, for example on YouTube.
According to the article, Google is motivated both by strengthening its competitive position in the AI race and by improving public perceptions of generative AI, whose reputation has deteriorated in recent years because of concerns about its impact on jobs and content created without permission from its creators. As related examples, the site cites a 75 million dollar investment agreement that the DeepMind division signed with A24 this summer, and a licensing agreement between Lionsgate and Runway from 2024 that has yet to result in any specific product.
The site also highlights risks for the studios—for example, negative reactions from fans to the use of AI-generated images in the art book for the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day—and notes that expanding the use of AI in production could threaten jobs in the industry. The source article does not cover statements from Google itself or the studios about these specific negotiations.
Why it matters
For the media and technology industries, signing such agreements would set the first major precedent for paid licensing of Hollywood content to train generative AI, which could establish a standard for prices and terms for similar negotiations elsewhere in the industry. For the wider public, this is a test of whether legal, paid use of copyrighted works for AI can ease the controversies surrounding generative AI or instead provoke further resistance from viewers and creators alike, as has already been suggested by reactions to the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Relevant practical impact
What this means
For a business
If the negotiations succeed, they will set a precedent for paid licensing of copyrighted content to train AI models, which could affect the prices and terms of similar agreements across the media and AI industries.
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Event sources
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