Inside Equity & Pact’s Artificial Intelligence Negotiations
Inside Equity & Pact’s Artificial Intelligence Negotiations
Publish Date: 2026-01-28 04:00:00
Source Domain: deadline.com
- After a long standoff focused on digital scanning, Equity (actors union) and Pact (producer trade body) are resuming negotiations over artificial intelligence (AI) protections.
- Equity’s primary demand is financial compensation for actors whose likenesses are used to train AI models, with a requirement for backdated payments if content is sold to AI training companies.
- Pact has proposed AI terms aligned with international practices and notes that no UK production company is engaging in the practices Equity is seeking to regulate.
- Neither side is fully satisfied with the offer, and industrial action remains a possibility if a deal is not reached.
- Digital scanning was reportedly a distraction used to bring focus to Equity’s main demand of compensation for AI use.
- The negotiations have continued for nearly two years, alongside other key demands like pay, residuals, and stipulations from streamers.
- The next set of negotiations for AI protections will occur in the coming weeks, with the possibility of finding common ground still uncertain.
