Meta partners with Hollywood's Blumhouse to test out its AI movie generation model

Facebook owner Meta said on Thursday it h teamed up with Blumhouse Productions, Hollywood company behind popular horror films such as " Purge" and "Get Out," to put its new generative AI video model Movie Gen to test.

announcement comes after Meta unveiled Movie Gen, which it said can create realistic-seeming video and audio clips in response to user prompts, earlier this month. Meta claimed tool could rival offerings from leing media generation startups such as OpenAI and ElevenLabs.

In a blog post, social media company said Blumhouse h selected filmmakers Aneesh Chaganty, Spurlock Sisters and Casey Affleck to try out Movie Gen and use clips generated by tool in ir short films. Chaganty's film would appear on Meta's Movie Gen website, while films from Affleck and Spurlock Sisters were forthcoming, Meta said.

Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum said in a statement that artists remain lifeblood of industry and innovative technology can aid in ir storytelling.

"We welcomed chance for some of m to test this cutting-edge technology and give ir notes on its pros and cons while it’s still in development,” Blum said. “se are going to be powerful tools for directors, and it’s important to engage creative industry in ir development to make sure y’re best suited for job.”

With partnership, Meta is signaling how it aims to collaborate with creative industries, whose members have largely recoiled in response to arrival of generative AI technologies over concerns around copyright and consent.

Several groups of copyright owners have sued major tech companies, including Meta, over unauthorised use of ir works to train generative AI systems. Meta has argued its AI training is protected by copyright doctrine of fair use.

However, Meta and or tech companies have shown y are willing to pay for certain s of content for AI. Aside from Movie Gen partnership, Meta said last month it h struck deals with actors including Judi Dench, Kristen Bell and John Cena to give voice to its Meta AI chatbot.

Similarly, Microsoft-backed OpenAI has been meeting with Hollywood executives and agents this year to discuss possible partnerships involving its video generation tool Sora, which it first showed off in February.

No deals have been reported to have come out of those talks yet, though Lions Gate Entertainment said in September that it h struck a deal with anor AI startup, Runway.