Actors' Union Complains About Epic Games Cloning Darth Vader

The union representing American actors has complained about Llama Production, which is owned by Epic Games, over the use of generative AI in a new character for Fortnite.

"Within the past six months, the Employer, by its agents and representatives, failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the union by making unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment, without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain, by utilizing AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work on the Interactive Program Fortnite," the filing [PDF] with the National Labor Relations Board reads.

Last week Darth Vader was introduced to the game as a non-player character. The late James Earl Jones, who made the voice for Vader so iconic, signed over the rights to his Star Wars lines to Lucasfilm for future projects in 2022 and it partnered with a Ukrainian AI lab to produce the vocals for this game and an earlier series of Disney's Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series.

"James felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it," said James Earl Jones' family in a statement. "We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character."

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However, the introduction of Vader hasn't gone well. Firstly, the character was designed with AI built in to allow it to talk to human players. Humans being humans, some gamers quickly taught it to swear, leading to Llama rushing out a patch to fix the issue.

And now there's a complaint from SAG-AFTRA, which after initially fighting the use of AI to replicate (or replace) actors has now allowed it - if the price is right. And it seems in Llama's case there wasn't a proper negotiation, according to the union.

"Fortnite's signatory company, Llama Productions, chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology. Unfortunately, they did so without providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms," it said.

Begun, the AI wars has. ®