SAG-AFTRA Resumes AMPTP Talks With AI Protections and Pension Funding Still Unresolved
SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP resumed negotiations this week after pausing in March to make way for the Writers Guild's talks. Both sides are targeting a deal before the DGA begins its own contract negotiations on May 11. Executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is holding firm on AI protections, pushing back on AMPTP's request for a longer contract term unless studios concede more on artificial intelligence. The WGA ratified its own four-year deal on Friday, with studios agreeing to alert the union when writer material is licensed for AI training. A four-year SAG-AFTRA term is now expected, mirroring the WGA outcome, with greater emphasis on pension funding than the writers' deal included.
THE BREAKDOWN
The outcome of SAG-AFTRA's AI language will be the benchmark for every actor and on-camera talent contract negotiated over the next four years. Talent reps should watch specifically what SAG-AFTRA extracts on likeness rights and AI training consent, since any new guild-level language flows directly into individual deal negotiations. If studios concede more ground on AI consent at the guild level than they did for the WGA, agents can reference that standard in single-talent agreements to push for stronger protections. The pension and health funding side of the deal also matters: if SAG-AFTRA wins better residual structures tied to AI-generated use of content, that affects how backend participation is structured in deals involving streaming and digital licensing.
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