Hollywood agency WME and tech firm Vermillio joined forces to launch platform Trace ID to protect celebrities from AI misuse.

This week AI-love is in the air with Sundance's 'Love Me', starring Kristen Stewart, and sci-fi short 'Safe Space’ (check out our ‘In case you missed it’ section) taking us into the complex world of tech and artificial emotions. These films beg the burning question: What can AI teach us about love?

This week AI is the hot topic at Sundance 2024. Two docs, "Love Machina" and “Eternal You” delve into a dystopian future of digital consciousness and immortality, flirting with the edges of sci-fi and reality. Plus Brian Eno muses on AI’s role in creativity and the use of gen-AI in the “Eno” documentary — also featured at this year's Sundance film festival.

This week, Hollywood studios are grappling with AI’s replication of film scenes. Should they sue AI companies or work with them? Meanwhile, the industry examines AI's potential in enhancing scriptwriting. Will we see human-machine interaction boosting the creative sector or is this a first step to full automation?

Despite a troubling year for streaming, Netflix reigns supreme, with new monetisation schemes doubling their new UK subscribers, despite competitors facing significant losses. Meanwhile, camera titans Canon, Nikon and Sony are joining forces to fight deepfakes through firmware; will this move inspire other tech sectors to take AI safety into their own hands?

This week, Midjourney made headlines on two fronts. Firstly, CEO David Holz announced plans to move from text-to-image to text-to-video, with training to start later in Jan and an expected release set in a few months. However, the company is also facing controversy as news broke that their state-of-the-art model was trained on the works of 16,000 non-consenting artists, including a 6-year-old artist named Hyan Tran.

Are you using AI to get ahead at work? If not, your job may be vulnerable — that’s according to a new report exploring how GenAI will change film and TV. One university is teaching its students to do just that with a new course on how to harness AI in music composition, filmmaking and more.

AI in music and video made waves this week. Stability AI unveiled its first open-source foundational model for video generation, while Ringo Starr shot down rumours of AI mimicking John Lennon's voice in their brand new Beatles track. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA published its post-strike deal highlighting over $1bn in new compensation and AI protections.

This week's news is dominated by cutting edge AI, and brewing copyright debates. WMG are using AI to recreate Édith Piaf's voice for a biopic, and Meta unveiled their text-to-animation tool Emu Video. Meanwhile, artists across all industries are calling for urgent copyright reforms to safeguard against AI's unchecked use of copyrighted content.

After 118-days of striking, SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with Hollywood studios. The agreement includes new compensation for streaming, wage increases and AI usage protections.

US Senators have begun drafting the “NO FAKES Act,” designed to safeguard performers from unauthorised AI duplications of their likeness and voice. Meanwhile, Scarlett Johansson is suing the AI application Lisa AI for using her likeness without permission in its advertising. Will this legislation pass quickly enough to help her case?

Talks between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP wrapped up this weekend without a final agreement, but hope remains on both sides. Amidst warnings from studios about potential summer 2024 movie disruptions if no settlement is reached soon, union members — including renowned actors — have rallied behind SAG-AFTRA, urging for continued dialogue.