New California Laws Aim to Protect Actors From Unauthorized AI Clones

California is the latest state to establish safety measures for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the entertainment industry.
Under a bill signed into law on Sept. 17 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Hollywood studios must obtain explicit permission from actors and performers before using generative AI to create their “digital replicas.”
Newsom said the two bills, which cleared the California Legislature with near-zero opposition, strike a balance between protecting entertainment workers from potential AI misuse and fostering the rapidly evolving digital cloning technology.
Newsom signed the bills alongside Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA, the world’s largest actors union. The union has been advocating for AI protections for over a year, particularly since its 118-day strike, during which a key issue was the studios’ use of generative AI and other digital technologies to replicate performers’ faces and voices. The strike, which started in July 2023 and lasted for almost four months, was the longest in the actors’ union’s history.
“It is a momentous day for SAG-AFTRA members and everyone else because the AI protections we fought so hard for last year are now expanded upon by California law thanks to the legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom,” Drescher said. “They say as California goes, so goes the nation!”
The use of digital replicas in movies has become increasingly common, particularly in newer installments of long-running franchises. As highlighted by the sponsors of AB 2602, the 2016 film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” digitally resurrected the likeness of British actor Peter Cushing, who portrayed Grand Moff Tarkin in “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977 and passed away in 1994 from cancer.
Meanwhile, in “Top Gun: Maverick,” a 2022 sequel to the 1986 Tom Cruise blockbuster, AI technology was used to recreate a digital version of the voice of Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, portrayed by Val Kilmer, who lost the ability to speak after undergoing throat cancer treatment in 2014.
More recently, in a callback to the original 1979 space horror classic, “Alien: Romulus” features a digital avatar of British actor Ian Holm, who portrayed synthetic android Ash. The likeness of Holm, who passed away in 2020, is used to portray another android called Rook.