Several high‑profile Hollywood actors, directors, and creators have launched a new advocacy group called the Creative Coalition on AI, aiming to protect the rights and livelihoods of artists in the face of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence. The group, founded by 18 industry figures including Joseph Gordon‑Levitt and Natalie Portman, says its mission is to confront unethical business practices that could disenfranchise human creators.
“We’re all frankly facing the same threat, not from generative AI as a technology, but from the unethical business practices a lot of the big AI companies are guilty of,” Gordon‑Levitt said in a video shared on X. He explained that the coalition plans to use public pressure, collective action, and potentially litigation and legislation to push back against industry practices that undervalue creative work.
Writer and director Daniel Kwan, known for Everything Everywhere All at Once, echoed those concerns in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Kwan said the coalition was galvanized in part by Disney’s recent licensing agreement with OpenAI, which blindsided many creators. “On one hand, you can say that this is just a licensing deal for the characters and that’s not a big deal… But for a lot of people, it symbolically shows a willingness to work with companies that have not been able to resolve or reconcile the problems,” he said.
Under Disney’s three‑year licensing deal with OpenAI’s Sora, users will be able to generate videos using more than 200 animated or creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. Sora along with ChatGPT Images is expected to start generating fan‑inspired videos featuring these licensed characters in early 2026. As part of the agreement, Disney also pledged a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI. The deal specifically excludes the use of actors’ likenesses, voices, or other personal attributes, which would require separate agreements.
The Creative Coalition on AI says it does not oppose AI technology outright. Instead, it plans to form a committee to establish shared standards, definitions, and ethical practices for how AI should be used in creative industries. “This is not a full rejection of AI,” the group states on its website. “The technology is here. This is a commitment to responsible, human‑centered innovation… We are drawing a line between those who want to do this fast, and those who want to do this right.”
The coalition’s emergence comes amid a broader tech clampdown on AI‑generated content. YouTube, for example, has recently shut down channels that produced fake movie trailers, highlighting tensions between creative rights and AI experimentation.
