The 2023 Hollywood actors’ strike was suspended after SAG-AFTRA and the studios reached a tentative agreement that included new rules for certain uses of performers’ digital replicas and AI-generated performers. The deal did not ban AI or settle whether studios could train AI on covered work. Members ratified it later, and the agreement expired in 2026.
How the actors’ strike ended
SAG-AFTRA suspended its TV and theatrical strike at 12:01 a.m. on November 9, 2023, after the union’s negotiating committee unanimously approved a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Union leadership described the walkout as lasting 118 days. The agreement was not final when the strike was suspended: members ratified it on December 5, 2023, by 78.33% to 21.67%, with 38.15% turnout. SAG-AFTRA said the deal brought more than $1 billion in new compensation and benefit-plan funding. SAG-AFTRA’s ratification announcement
The contract covered theatrical motion pictures and scripted dramatic television and new-media production; it should not be assumed to apply to every SAG-AFTRA agreement or performer category. It took effect retroactively on November 9, 2023, and expired June 30, 2026. A successor agreement runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030, so the AI provisions below describe the deal that ended the strike, not necessarily the current contract. 2023 contract summary · 2026 successor agreement
What AI protections the 2023 deal established
The agreement did not set one blanket rule for all AI. It defined different kinds of digital replicas, alterations and synthetic performers, with requirements that depend on how a replica was created and how a producer plans to use it. The union’s contract summary describes the negotiated terms.
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Replicas created through a performer’s employment
An employment-based digital replica is made in connection with a performer’s job, using the performer’s physical participation, to portray them in images or sound they did not actually perform. Creating one requires advance notice and consent. Use in the production for which it was created generally requires consent based on a reasonably specific description, subject to contract exceptions. Using it in another production requires consent and separate bargaining, including compensation rules.
Replicas created independently of the performer’s employment
For a recognizable replica created without an employment arrangement with the performer for that production, the agreement requires consent and bargaining before use, with a specific description. It lists exceptions for certain protected uses, including criticism, scholarship, satire, parody and some historical or biographical works. These exceptions mean the contract is not a universal veto over every appearance of a digital likeness.
Digital alterations to recorded performances
Consent is generally required for covered alterations to a recorded performance, based on a specific description. The summary distinguishes those alterations from ordinary post-production work, listing exceptions that include cosmetics, continuity, visual effects, standards and practices, and certain dubbing or localization.
Synthetic performers and background actors
The agreement addresses synthetic performers: digital performers who are not recognizable as a particular natural person and are not voiced by a natural person. If a producer uses one instead of hiring a human performer who otherwise would have been hired, the producer must notify the union and give it an opportunity to bargain over appropriate consideration. A separate rule covers generating a performer using their name and a recognizable facial feature in a prompt.
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Background-actor replicas have their own notice, consent and payment provisions. The agreement also limits using replicas to get around coverage maximums that require hiring background actors. Those provisions should not be treated as identical to the rules for principal performers.
Does the deal ban studios from training AI on actors’ work?
No outright ban on AI training on covered work was secured in the 2023 negotiations, according to SAG-AFTRA’s AI FAQ. The union said it retained the right to argue that training violated the agreement or other law, and described the issue as legally complicated and subject to litigation. That FAQ records the union’s position at the time; it is not a definitive current legal ruling.
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SAG-AFTRA also said a total ban could have unintended effects and that collective bargaining could not directly bind companies outside the union’s bargaining relationships. The negotiated approach therefore focused on defined protections for specified uses rather than a comprehensive prohibition on AI.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What else was in the deal
AI was one part of a broader agreement. SAG-AFTRA said the contract included more than $1 billion in new compensation and benefit-plan funding, and introduced a streaming participation bonus alongside increased compensation and benefit-fund terms. The success payment applied to qualifying high-budget subscription-video-on-demand seasons and longform pictures when domestic viewing in the first 90 days reached at least 20% of domestic subscribers; it did not apply to every streaming production. Ratification announcement · Contract summary
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In its November 8, 2023 statement, the AMPTP also characterized the tentative agreement as including extensive AI consent and compensation protections. That is the employer association’s description of the deal; the contract summary is the more useful reference for the actual categories and rules. AMPTP statement
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