Tyler Perry Halts $800M Studio Expansion Due to AI Job Loss Fears

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Tyler Perry is halting an $800 million expansion of his Atlanta film studio due to concerns over how AI may disrupt the entertainment industry. The media mogul was shocked after seeing demos of OpenAI's new video generator tool, Sora. The AI system can produce realistic-looking 60-second videos based on simple text prompts. 

As both a businessman and creator, Perry sees the potential for AI to significantly cut costs of film and TV production by eliminating the need for things like set building and on-location filming. However, as the owner of one of the largest movie studios in the country, he is also worried about the threat to jobs. "I'm concerned about what will happen to them," Perry said of his trained staff of over 1,000 people. 

If tools like Sora allow pilots and other projects to be done for a fraction of their current budgets, Perry believes companies will gravitate towards the cheaper AI-generated options. This could lead to massive job losses across the industry, which employs millions in the US alone. "I really, really feel that very strongly," said Perry, who described himself as "very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost." 

The rapid advancement of AI has Perry and others in entertainment feeling like they are "running a hundred miles an hour to try and catch up, to try and put in guardrails and to try and put in safety belts to keep livelihoods afloat."