According to The Information, Meta is paying one top creative up to $5 million over two years for six hours of work in a studio so that their likeness can be used as an AI assistant.
The AI assistants were presented by Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s Connect event last month. While the business already has an AI chatbot that is comparable to ChatGPT, it also unveiled 28 new ones with distinctive personalities that feature pictures of famous people.
For instance, Billie, who serves as a big sister figure and offers customers guidance, is represented by Kendall Jenner’s likeness. Tom Brady also voices the sports-talking chatbot Bru.
Additionally, Meta has added creators like the TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio and MrBeast, who has the most subscribers on YouTube.
According to The Information, Meta first offered to pay more than $1 million to utilise the stars’ likenesses but paid more for well-known figures. The report mostly mentions creators but doesn’t specify who received the $5 million payment.
Although Meta’s launch trailer included snippets of the celebrities speaking as their AI equivalents, the AI assistants are currently purely text-based.
In an interview with The Verge, Zuckerberg claimed that there is a “huge need” for artificial intelligence celebrities. Although he stated that it would be “more of a next year thing” owing to brand safety concerns, celebrities would want to ensure that their image is not used to make controversial statements.
AI stickers were also introduced by Meta at the same time as its AI assistants. However, users have been able to produce bizarre images like a kid soldier and a sexual image of Justin Trudeau, leading to criticism of that feature.