Two and a half years after SAG-AFTRA members walked picket lines over AI-generated replicas of their own faces, the union has nailed down a tentative contract with studios that puts updated AI protections in writing.

The four-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers was reached on Saturday, according to a joint statement from both parties. Specific terms won’t be disclosed until the union’s national board reviews the agreement in the coming days, followed by a ratification vote by roughly 160,000 members.

But the broad strokes are already visible. The deal includes new AI “guardrail” measures and a “sizable” contribution to the union’s pension fund, according to Deadline. It also extends the traditional three-year contract term by one year — the same structure the Writers Guild of America accepted last month in exchange for a $321 million infusion into its health plan.

The AI provisions matter because the landscape has shifted dramatically since 2023. That year’s strike won consent and compensation rules for “digital replicas” — AI avatars built from real performers’ likenesses. Since then, the technology has moved fast enough to demand updated language. SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said publicly at January’s Consumer Electronics Show that his goal was to make AI-generated performers as expensive as human ones.

The union also pushed for tougher restrictions on fully synthetic characters — performers who never existed at all — and for better streaming residuals, an issue that has festered since the last contract. Actors have long complained that streaming payments are a fraction of what broadcast and syndication residuals once provided.

Negotiations began on February 9 and recessed on March 15 to make room for the WGA’s earlier deadline. Talks resumed on April 27, after the writers reached their own deal, and closed within a week.

Next up: the Directors Guild of America, led this year by Christopher Nolan, sits down with the AMPTP on May 11.

Sources