Opinions about America’s current president fall on opposite sides of the spectrum. Half the country religiously believes in his leadership style and ideology, while the other half strongly expresses resentment. There have been multiple occasions when Hollywood stars, too, have made harsh comments about Donald Trump without hesitation.
However, the tables have turned as the very same Hollywood celebs who never said a good thing about Trump are requesting him to help them in a battle to protect copyright work amid wave of artificial intelligence.
In January, soon after returning to the White House, Donald Trump hosted SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and OpenAI’s Sam Altman in the Roosevelt Room. The POTUS went on to announce $500 billion Stargate Project to build AI infrastructure in the US . The project is believed to create over 100k jobs, thus giving a massive economic boost to the country.
Trump’s announcement to boost AI in the next few years has created panic in Hollywood. Celebs like Ben Stiller, Olivia Wilde, Cynthia Erivo, Aubrey Plaza, Paul McCartney, Mark Ruffalo and Cate Blanchett, who are known for liberal ideology, are now urging Trump to push back against big tech proposals on AI.
A part of the letter sent to Trump reads, “We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries. America’s arts and entertainment industry supports over 2.3M American jobs with over $229Bn in wages annually, while providing the foundation for American democratic influence and soft power abroad. But AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music, and voices used to train AI models at the core of multi-billion dollar corporate valuations.”
It further reads, “It is clear that Google (valued at $2Tn) and OpenAI (valued at over $157Bn) are arguing for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America’s creative and knowledge industries, despite their substantial revenues and available funds. There is no reason to weaken or eliminate the copyright protections that have helped America flourish.”
The letter concluded by recommending that “the American AI Action Plan uphold existing copyright frameworks to maintain the strength of America’s creative and knowledge industries, as well as American cultural influence abroad.”
Over 400 celebs ranging from actors to directors to writers have signed this letter, including the liberals who have openly mocked Trump in the past.
During Trump’s first term, actor and comedian Ben Stiller, took to his X account and openly bashed the president for his press conference in 2017. Stiller wrote, “Just watched the entire Trump news conference. Worst message I have ever heard a president put out to the world.”
Just watched the entire Trump news conference. Worst message I have ever heard a president put out to the world.
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) August 16, 2017
The same year, Olivia Wilde said, “I despise Donald Trump with all my guts, and his speech last night only confirmed what a pathetic, petulant, dishonest pig he is,” as per Daily Mail.
In 2020, Director Ron Howard called the president “a self-serving, dishonest, morally bankrupt ego maniac who doesn’t care about anything or anyone but his fame and bank account.”
Earlier this year, as Trump returned for his second term Zodiac actor Mark Ruffalo said, “There is no one keeping America safe from being looted by Trump and Elon.”
Prior to this, he wrote on X, “Trump is too old and of terrible personal character to be President. He just can’t be trusted or relied on and he is always falling asleep on the job.”
Trump is too old and of terrible personal character to be President. He just can’t be trusted or relied on and he is always falling asleep on the job. We need a young President who isn’t a convicted criminal to be President. How did the Republicans not see this?? https://t.co/9Gtry0wfMV
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) July 23, 2024
It now remains to be seen if Trump acknowledges the letter sent by the creative people from Hollywood or continues to promote the AI project.
