What just happened? Hundreds of stars and Hollywood executives have signed an open letter urging the Trump administration to deny proposals from AI companies that would allow their systems to be trained on copyrighted work without obtaining permission.
Over 400 actors, musicians, filmmakers, writers, and more signed the letter sent to the White House, including Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Paul McCartney, and Ron Howard, reports The Wrap.
The letter, which is not avialable publicly, is a response to submissions to the Office of Science and Technology Policy from OpenAI and Google proposing that the companies be allowed to train their AI models on copyrighted works without obtaining permission from (or compensating) rights holders.
OpenAI said that relaxing copyright laws would promote "the freedom to learn" and help "protect" America's national security. Both Sam Altman's company and Google said the change would help "strengthen America's lead" against China's communist government in the field of AI development.
The stars' letter argues that there is no reason to eliminate copyright protections to help AI models improve.
"We firmly believe that America's global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries," the letter states.
"AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music and voices used to train AI models at the core of multibillion-dollar corporate valuations."
Thank you x 10000 to all who signed our statement and spread the word this weekend. This is just the beginning, and there's a lot of work to do, but I couldn't be more proud of this community (and the press who covered the story with such clarity). https://t.co/PkEMAayLyI
– Nick Confalone (@nickconfalone) March 18, 2025
The letter adds that Google and OpenAI want a special government exemption so they can "freely exploit America's creative and knowledge industries, despite their substantial revenues and available funds."
"America didn't become a global cultural powerhouse by accident," the letter continues. "Our success stems directly from our fundamental respect for IP and copyright that rewards creative risk-taking by talented and hardworking Americans from every state and territory."
The open letter also notes that America's entertainment industry supports 2.3 million citizens and contributes $229 billion in wages annually, while also providing the "foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad." All that would be threatened if Google and OpenAI get their way.
Some of the other famous names who signed the letter include Adam Scott, Guillermo del Toro, Natasha Lyonne, Cynthia Erivo, Cate Blanchett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Cord Jefferson, Bette Midler, Cate Blanchett, Ava Duvernay, Paul Simon, Ángel Manuel Soto, Taika Waititi, Ayo Edebiri, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily Gladstone, Sam Mendes, Brit Marling, Janelle Monáe, Bryn Mooser, Rian Johnson, Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alfonso Cuarón, Judd Apatow, Kim Gordon, Chris Rock, Juliette Lewis, and Michaela Coel.
It's not just in the US where celebrities are protesting against this issue. The UK has put forward proposals that would allow AI companies to train their models on any material to which they have lawful access. Any creators or companies that don't want their work used this way would have to opt out, an option that has been called unfair and unworkable.
The UK situation led to more than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and the Eurythmics' Annie Lennox, releasing a silent album in protest. The album, called Is This What We Want?, features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces. Other protests in the UK included several daily newspapers featuring the slogan "Make It Fair" on their front pages.
Over 400 celebrities sign letter opposing AI training on copyrighted works without permission
