Actors call out Fortnite over ‘using AI to create Darth Vader voice’

The Hollywood's actors' union has filed an unfair labor practice charge over creators allegedly using artificial intelligence to generate Darth Vader’s voice in Fortnite.

The union filed against Llama Productions on Monday.

It alleges the company replaced actors' work by using artificial intelligence to generate the character’s voice in the popular game without notice.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) said Llama Productions, a subsidiary of gaming giant Epic Games, “failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the union” in the last six months.

The company made unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment “without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain” by using AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work, SAG-AFTRA said.

Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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SAG-AFTRA called a strike against major game companies in July 2024 after more than a year of negotiations around the union’s interactive media agreement broke down over concerns around the use of unregulated artificial intelligence.

In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said the union supports the rights of members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas.

“However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games,” the union said.

In 2024, there were two strikes: one concerning members in the video game industry and another in Hollywood.

The video game strike was mainly concerned about AI protections and compensation for the use of AI-generated replicas of actors' voices and performances.

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The Hollywood strike, which had ended by the time of the video game strike in July, resulted in a new WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers contract.

At the time, video game performers said they fear AI could reduce or eliminate job opportunities because the technology could be used to replicate one performance into a number of other movements without their consent.

“If motion-capture actors, video-game actors in general, only make whatever money they make that day ... that can be a really slippery slope,” said actor Noshir Dalal, who portrayed Bode Akuna in “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.”

“Instead of being like, ‘Hey, we’re going to bring you back’ ... they’re just not going to bring me back at all and not tell me at all that they’re doing this. That’s why transparency and compensation are so important to us in AI protections.”