California approves rules to limit actor clones by AI

Team Buffington & Google Sites The US state of California has agreed to limit actor clones by artificial intelligence (AI) in order to protect actors who are often digitally simulated by AI.

The Verge reported Wednesday that California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills called AB 2602 and AB 1836 that were previously passed by the California Legislature in August 2024 as part of a list of AI regulations at the state level.

As for the AB 2602 rule, it prohibits a company from using an AI-generated digital version of an actor in a project instead of using the original actor.

This can be excluded if the actor knows that he is being made a digital project. This provision can also be excluded if the actor has a legal representative or union representative to take care of the project.

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AB 1836 stipulates that if an actor dies and the company wants to use a digital form of AI, the company must obtain permission from the actor’s family or agency before the product is produced or distributed.

Efforts to inaugurate rules governing actor clones for AI are supported by SAG-AFTRA which is a union of media workers be it journalists, actors, broadcasters, to presenters.

Newsom said, “We make sure that no one uses their name, image and likeness immorally in the absence of representation.

The statement was shared on Instagram @cagovernor and @sagaftra.

The signing of the two rules bodes well for the actors as well as the fate of California’S SB 1047 which governs how AI model development should be trained and worked on.

The “Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Model Act” was opposed by much of the industry and is still awaiting approval.