California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law designed to give actors more protection over their digital images.
Newsom signed the bill at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles on Tuesday, flanked by SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher.
One bill establishes new rules for digital replicas in contracts with actors while the other bill allows the estates of dead celebrities to sue if a digital replica is distributed without their consent, Politico reported.
"We're making sure that no one turns over their name, image and likeness to unscrupulous people without representation or union advocacy," Newsom said in a video posted on SAG-AFTRA's Instagram account.
Drescher praised the bill and said A.I. poses a threat to actors and workers in every industry.
"No technology should be introduced into society without extreme caution and careful consideration of its long-term impact on humanity and the natural world," Drescher said in a statement.
The Motion Picture Association opposed the legislation, saying it would hamstring innovation and lead to costly fights, Politico reported.
Celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo and Rosie Perez have pushed for Newsom to sign legislation that would require large-scale AI models to undergo safety testing before deployment, Politico said.
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