TECH NEWS – Mark Zuckerberg wants to get the voices of famous people for Meta’s digital assistant, and money is no object…
It’s already been controversial that tech giants have used the voices of famous people in their products. This has sparked controversy because it is not certain that the parties involved will be able to make a living in the future, and music artists are the most affected. Regarding MetaAI, Bloomberg reports that Zuck is paying celebrities millions of dollars to use their voices in the digital assistant. The exact amount is unknown.
Facebook’s parent company has been in talks with several actors (e.g. Awkwafina, Judi Dench), but discussions with influencers are also ongoing. MetaAI is just the first of these products, and all will be powered by artificial intelligence. A comedian, Keegan-Michael Key, is also reportedly in active discussions. Several celebrities have raised important issues with Meta, but they are currently anonymous. Hollywood’s biggest agencies have agreed to meet with Meta, but it is not yet known how much of a cut they will receive. If the deals go through, millions of dollars could end up in celebrities’ bank accounts.
Zuckerberg has previously said that the company’s spending on AI has skyrocketed, and with other costs, that amounts to about $37 billion. At the beginning of 2024, it was only $30 billion, so the company is clearly trying to put everything it has into what’s happening in the AI industry. But how does MetaAI use the celebrity voice? Presumably, questions will be answered in their voices for a more interactive experience. These agreements would only be for a limited time, so the contracts could expire if not renewed. Meta will likely have the agreements in place by the time the Connect conference rolls around at the end of September, where it will be able to demonstrate these AI tools.
Last year, Meta introduced chatbots with the voices of Snoop Dogg, Mr. Beast, and Tom Brady, but Meta shut them down in July due to poor reception. Don’t let that happen to MetaAI.
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