Hollywood stars are softening on their distaste for Washington D.C.’s K-Street lobbyists as they become increasingly worried that artificial intelligence is coming for their jobs.
Outside of environmental and union lobbyists, left-wing Hollywood has traditionally opposed K-Street, often claiming that the industry is one of the problems with Washington. But with the growth of AI, some members of the Hollywood elite are turning to lobbyists to help them stave off AI’s take over of the entertainment industry.
Now, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has retained Washington lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to head off AI’s encroachment, according to Politico.
The hire marks the first time that CAA has reached out from California to Washington, D.C., for lobbying needs.
Carl Thorsen, a co-founder of the lobbying firm Thorsen French Advocacy, told Politico that “that the risks and rewards created by AI are prompting more engagement in D.C. than I’ve seen in over a decade.”
AI is spurring a lot of activity with lobbying. Just in the past two years, the National Association of Voice Actors and the Academy of Television Art & Sciences have begun reaching out to K-Street.
Of course, Hollywood is facing far more pressures than AI. Taxation, job loss, encroachment on their turf by overseas producers and studios, massive industry mergers at home, and a host of other issues are slamming the entertainment industry with which lobbyists can help.
AI, though, is a particular threat that makes many of the industry’s other worry pale. Hollywood has reportedly lost more than 200,000 jobs and climbing to artificial intelligence. And so far, the studios have stayed awfully quiet over the matter, likely out of fear and powerlessness over the sea change.
OpenAI just released its latest AI tool, Sora 2, and kicked the discussion into overdrive as the studios rose up to demand that the AI company take serious measures to prevent its users from accessing copyrighted material to program their video generations.
Top talent agency WME, for instance, blasted OpenAI and accused them of “stealing” intellectual property.
WME released a statement insisting that OpenAI thinks it can “just steal” people’s work, “disregarding global copyright principles and blatantly dismissing creators’ rights, as well as the many people and companies who fund the production, creation, and publication of these humans’ work.”
All this turmoil and upheaval is opening the door for Hollywood to start hiring lobbyists to press their issues.
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