Google has invested $75 million into the movie studio A24 to develop AI filmmaking tools and new AI-powered technologies.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the investment from Google will be tied to A24’s partnership with Thrive Capital, which will give the studio DeepMind’s researchers and technology.
“We believe breakthroughs happen when you get technology into the hands of the best minds in the field,” Eli Collins, a vice president of product for DeepMind, told WSJ.
Google will not have access to A24’s IP library to train its models.
“The deal represents the latest marriage between a Hollywood studio and AI in an era where companies have oscillated between partnerships and lawsuits,” noted Variety.
“Disney’s short-lived deal with OpenAI to license its suite of characters came as it sued AI companies like MiniMax and Midjourney for copyright infringement, while Lionsgate expanded its partnership with the AI firm Runway AI to develop new intellectual property and produce AI-generated shows drawing from its existing franchises,” it reported.
“Netflix also purchased Ben Affleck’s AI startup InterPositive, aimed at building tools for filmmakers, earlier this year,” it added.
A24 partner Scott Belsky, head of the studio’s technology division A24 Labs, told WSJ that the studio will likely use the technology for storyboards and other creative applications.
“We think there are better uses that preserve creative control and support risk-taking,” he told WSJ, adding that the tools “won’t look anything like the prompted generation type of AI that people feel uncomfortable with.”
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