Last Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills from the efforts of SAG-AFTRA, which has been fighting hard to protect its members from what they call the unfair use of the actor’s reputation. The first bill, AB-1836, protects a deceased player from being replaced by an AI character (with their voice or likeness) unless that person’s estate gives prior consent.
Like the first bill, AB-2602 does not specifically prohibit the use of AI actors. But it does say that a digital representation of a person’s “voice or likeness” used in place of that person’s actual services is illegal UNLESS that person gives consent. And after consent is given, the user must adhere to any contractual terms that the manufacturer defines for use.