Highlights

• Tyler Perry's $800M studio expansion was put on hold due to OpenAI's Sora AI tool showcasing impressive video capabilities.
• Concerns over AI's impact on job losses in the film industry are echoed by Perry and other industry creatives.
• AI's role in Hollywood negotiations were highlighted as striking writers successfully ensures control over AI tools in the creative process – for now.

Media mogul Tyler Perry is known in part for his versatility, but the multi-talented star claimed he placed a massive $800 million studio expansion on hold after witnessing the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) in terms of generating video.

On February 23rd, the BBC covered Perry's originally planned studio expansion and comments about AI, reporting that OpenAI's Sora technology was responsible for Perry's about face:

"US film and TV giant Tyler Perry says he's putting a $800m (£630m) expansion of his studio on hold after becoming concerned over new AI technology.

"He was due to add 12 sound stages to his Atlanta complex, but says he has been put off by the release of OpenAI's video generator Sora.

"Perry, 54, believes "a lot of jobs" will be lost in the film industry because of artificial intelligence."

Perry is not alone in expressing concerns about AI and the entertainment industry – let's break it down.

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Tyler Perry, AI, And The Film Industry

Perry is not alone in the film industry when it comes to concerns about AI and revenue.

AI and concerns about its capabilities were a massive aspect of the 2023 "writer's strike" in Hollywood.

On October 1st, after the strike had finally concluded, The Guardian recapped some of the negotiations as they related to the use of AI in the industry.

Noting that human creators appeared to emerge victorious for the time being, the paper explained:

"One of the most closely watched aspects of negotiations was the use of artificial intelligence, amid concerns from both writers and actors that unchecked AI could dramatically reshape Hollywood and undermine their roles, pitting artists against robots in a battle over human creativity.

"With terms of AI use finally agreed, some writers are breathing easier – for now – and experts say the guidelines could offer a model for workers in Hollywood and other industries. The writers’ contract does not outlaw the use of AI tools in the writing process, but it sets up guardrails to make sure the new technology stays in the control of workers, rather than being used by their bosses to replace them."

Although 2023's Hollywood strikes extended beyond writing, writers were the most prominent among striking creatives.

Among the agreements made to end the strike was a stipulation that AI could neither be used to write scripts, nor to edit them.

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Tyler Perry's $800M Studio Expansion And AI

As mentioned above, Tyler Perry specifically cited OpenAI's Sora video generation tool in his comments about AI and his planned studio expansion.

OpenAI's Sora itself had been a hot topic in February, often due to fears about its purported realism.

On February 22nd, Vox.com published "AI-generated video is here to awe and mislead," examining strengths and weaknesses with respect to the model.

Vox, like many outlets, emphasized the unsettling nature of OpenAI's Sora videos, which were released prior to the model being introduced to the public:

"The artificial intelligence model is not yet open to the public, but OpenAI has released the videos, along with the prompts that generated them. This was quickly followed by headlines calling Sora 'eye-popping' and 'terrifying' and 'jaw-dropping.'

"OpenAI researchers Tim Brooks and Bill Peebles told the New York Times that they picked 'sora,' Japanese for 'sky,' to emphasize the 'idea of limitless creative potential.'

"There is another term, though, that OpenAI uses to describe Sora: a potential 'world simulator,' one that, over time, could create 'highly-capable simulators of the physical and digital world, and the objects, animals and people that live within them.'"

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On February 22nd, industry trade publication The Hollywood Reporter covered Tyler Perry's AI statements, as well as his $800 million studio expansion plans.

THR's article opened with information about Perry's studio expansion, before explaining his how AI impacted the project:

"Over the past four years, Tyler Perry had been planning an $800 million expansion of his studio in Atlanta, which would have added 12 soundstages to the 330-acre property.

"Now, however, those ambitions are on hold — thanks to the rapid developments he’s seeing in the realm of artificial intelligence, including OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora, which debuted Feb. 15 and stunned observers with its cinematic video outputs."

THR quoted and paraphrased Perry's AI comments from a conversation with the outlet on February 22nd, and published an interview with Perry on AI.

In the interview, THR asked Perry directly about why OpenAI's Sora in particular prompted him to reconsider his $800 million studio expansion.

Perry explained how one influenced the other, and detailed his studio expansion plans:

"I have been watching AI very closely and watching the advancements very closely. I was in the middle of, and have been planning for the last four years, about an $800 million expansion at the studio, which would’ve increased the backlot a tremendous size — we were adding 12 more soundstages.

"All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing. I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me."

In the interview, Perry addressed a range of entertainment industry issues raised by AI, and expressed concerns that it would eliminate jobs.

Perry's AI opinions were not all negative, though – when asked about his experiences with AI directly, Tyler said:

"I just used AI in two films that are going to be announced soon. That kept me out of makeup for hours. In post and on set, I was able to use this AI technology to avoid ever having to sit through hours of aging makeup."

According to Tyler Perry, AI video samples inspired him to put an $800 million studio expansion on hold, and in his interview, Perry said everything was "up in the air" as AI tools were adopted in Hollywood.