Entertainment

Unable to Stop AI, SAG-AFTRA Mulls a Studio Tax on Digital Performers

January 29, 2026

Jan 29, 2026 12:56pm PT Unable to Stop AI, SAG-AFTRA Mulls a Studio Tax on Digital Performers By Gene Maddaus Plus Icon Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer @GeneMaddaus Latest Los Angeles Explores $5 Million Subsidy for Microdrama Production 20 hours ago Trump Offers ‘Low-Interest Bonds’ to Help Hollywood Production While Again Threatening Tariffs 3 days ago FCC Takes Aim at Political Interviews on Late-Night and Daytime Shows 1 week ago See All Particle6 TV Call it the Tilly tax. In the future, studios that use synthetic actors in place of humans might have to pay a royalty into a union fund. That’s one of the ideas kicking around as SAG-AFTRA prepares to sit down with the studios on Feb.

Tilly Norwood

Credit: Variety

Key Highlights

9.
Artificial intelligence was central to the 2023 actors strike, and it’s only gotten more urgent since.
Social media is awash in slop, while user-made videos of Leia and Elsa are soon to debut on Disney+.
And then there’s Tilly Norwood — the digital creation that crystallized AI fears last fall.
Though SAG-AFTRA won some AI protections in the strike, it can’t stop Tilly and her ilk from taking actors’ jobs.

News SAG-AFTRA Tilly Norwood

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Unable to Stop AI, SAG-AFTRA Mulls a Studio Tax on Digital Performers

This quick summary is automatically generated using AI based on reports from multiple news sources. The content has not been reviewed or verified by humans. For complete details, accuracy, and context, please refer to the original published articles.

Unable to Stop AI, SAG-AFTRA Mulls a Studio Tax on Digital Performers

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