Takeaways

• Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is still a top collective bargaining issue in the entertainment industry.
• The 2026 WGA, SAG-AFTRA and DGA agreements focus on how AI use will be governed as unions continue to push for protections over AI implementation, workforce impacts, transparency, and preservation of human creative work.
• Employers should expect AI governance and emerging technologies to remain central issues in future bargaining.

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Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) emerged as a significant labor relations issue in the entertainment industry during the 2023 bargaining cycle. Since then, advances in AI technology have expanded its potential use in script development, digital replication, synthetic performances, and other content creation activities.

As the 2026 bargaining cycle comes to a close for the above-the-line entertainment industry unions, the resulting agreements confirm that GAI remains a central collective bargaining issue and an ongoing concern for studios and production companies.

From Initial Guardrails to Expanded AI Governance

The 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) agreements established the foundational contractual protections addressing AI-related issues, including digital replicas, consent requirements, and the use of writers’ material in connection with GAI systems.

The 2026 negotiations built on that framework,...

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