{"id":555830,"date":"2026-06-26T20:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T20:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/555830\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T20:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T20:24:10","slug":"a24-defends-ai-deal-with-google-wed-rather-have-a-seat-at-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/555830\/","title":{"rendered":"A24 Defends AI Deal With Google: We’d Rather Have a Seat at the Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA24<\/a> explained its research partnership with Google<\/a>\u2018s DeepMind unit as a bid to have \u201ca seat at the table\u201c\u00a0in Hollywood\u2019s reckoning with AI after fans pelted the independent studio with criticism for embracing the technology.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a research partnership,\u201d A24 communications rep Sophia Shin said about the deal in a statement first reported<\/a> by Wired. \u201cWe\u2019re working side-by-side with DeepMind\u2019s researchers to learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur relationship with our audience is something we don\u2019t take for granted,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cThis partnership exists because we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, and so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them. We\u2019d rather have a seat at the table than on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe partnership, which the studio and Google unveiled on Monday, will give A24 and its tech arm, A24 Labs, access to DeepMind\u2019s research and infrastructure, while the unit\u2019s researchers will work with the studio to build out new workflows and figure out what tools filmmakers may want. The deal does not give Google access to A24\u2019s content library or its data, and there is no mandate for filmmakers to use the tools. A24 fans were not pleased on social media and took to the studio\u2019s Instagram and X posts to leave comments that accused A24 of betraying the audience it serves.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat the hell is up with the AI collaboration? Do you know your fanbase?\u201d\u00a0one Instagram comment read on a post<\/a> advertising the upcoming A24 film \u201cThe Debut,\u201d while another X user wrote<\/a> that the deal exhibited \u201crancid\u201d\u00a0behavior.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe controversial deal represents the latest marriage between a Hollywood studio and AI in an era where companies have tried to figure out how to engage with the ever-present technology while protecting their copyrights and intellectual property. Disney\u2019s short-lived deal with OpenAI to license its suite of characters came as it sued AI companies such as MiniMax and Midjourney for copyright infringement, while Lionsgate this month\u00a0expanded its partnership<\/a>\u00a0with the AI firm Runway to develop new franchises and produce AI-generated shows drawing from its existing IP. Netflix also\u00a0purchased<\/a>\u00a0Ben Affleck\u2019s AI startup InterPositive, aimed at building tools for filmmakers, earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\n\tDemis Hassabis, DeepMind\u2019s CEO and co-founder, said in a blog post<\/a> this week the company believes \u201cthe best way to develop tools that empower artists is to work directly with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBy collaborating with filmmakers and industry leaders like A24 from the beginning,\u00a0we can build new AI features to support artists in authentic, meaningful storytelling that helps enable their creative vision,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\n\tSome of A24\u2019s legion of filmmakers have been outspoken in condemning AI\u2019s incorporation into the filmmaking process. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBackrooms\u201d\u00a0director Kane Parsons called<\/a> generative AI \u201ca symptom of broader cultural and economic rot\u201d\u00a0in an interview with the Australian earlier this month and said that, while there may be use cases in VFX-related work, \u201cit\u2019s difficult to discuss objectively because there\u2019s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think I\u2019m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,\u201d he told the paper. \u201cIf I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHeretic\u201d\u00a0directors Scott Beck\u00a0and\u00a0Bryan Woods included a disclaimer in the credits of their A24-distributed film that \u201cno generative\u00a0AI\u00a0was used in the making of this film,\u201d\u00a0one Beck said the studio was fine leaving in there.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are in a time where I feel like creatively we\u2019re in one of the big ethical battles, and the race is already ahead of us,\u201d\u00a0Beck told Variety<\/a> at the time. \u201cThe importance is to have these conversations before they force things in, just because it makes sense from a corporate structure. It\u2019s incredibly dangerous. If there\u2019s not people to throttle it, we\u2019re going to find ourselves in five to ten years in a very dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\n