SAG-AFTRA, the organization that represents voice, motion, and screen performers, has filed an unfair labor complaint against Epic Games. The complaint stems from the company’s recent introduction of an AI programmed to sound like James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader that can respond to a player’s actions and questions.

SAG-AFTRA wrote in a statement that it understands its members and members’ estates wish to use AI technology in any way they choose. “However,” SAG-AFTRA’s statement continued, “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.”

While the AI “revolution” slowly replaces human workers with oftentimes inferior products and despite some members’ distaste for the practice, SAG-AFTRA has embraced the idea of using AI trained to replicate an actor’s performance. It has established contracts and partnerships with several AI companies with the idea being members can use this technology with specific contract-guaranteed protections. So the act of using an AI to replace Darth Vader’s voice performers (both the late James Earl Jones and those brought in after his death to match his performance) isn’t what SAG-AFTRA is objecting to. Rather it’s the fact that this was done without Epic Games sitting down with SAG-AFTRA at the bargaining table to hash out the specifics. 

“Fortnite‘s signatory company, Llama Productions, chose to replace the work of human performers with AI. technology,” SAG-AFTRA wrote. “Unfortunately, they did so without providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms.” The Verge has reached out to Epic Games for comment.
AI and its use in video game voice and motion performance is the main stumbling block in the ongoing video game voice actor strike. Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the signatory companies of its interactive media agreement broke down last year and performers have been on strike since July – a length of time that eclipses both the actors and writers strike of 2023.

President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, enacting a bill that will criminalize the distribution of nonconsensual intimate images (NCII) — including AI deepfakes — and require social media platforms to promptly remove them when notified.

The bill sailed through both chambers of Congress with several tech companies, parent and youth advocates, and first lady Melania Trump championing the issue. But critics — including a group that’s made it its mission to combat the distribution of such images — warn that its approach could backfire and harm the very survivors it seeks to protect. 

The law makes publishing NCII, whether real or AI-generated, criminally punishable by up to three years in prison, plus fines. It also requires social media platforms to have processes to remove NCII within 48 hours of being notified and “make reasonable efforts” to remove any copies. The Federal Trade Commission is tasked with enforcing the law, and companies have a year to comply.

“I’m going to use that bill for myself, too”

Under any other administration, the Take It Down Act would likely see much of the pushback it does today by groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), which warn the takedown provision could be used to remove or chill a wider array of content than intended, as well as threaten privacy-protecting technologies like encryption, since services that use it would have no way of seeing (or removing) the messages between users. But actions by the Trump administration in his first 100 days in office — including breaching Supreme Court precedent by firing the two Democratic minority commissioners at the FTC — have added another layer of fear for some of the law’s critics, who worry it could be used to threaten or stifle political opponents. Trump, after all, said during an address to Congress this year that once he signed the bill, “I’m going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don’t mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody.”

The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), which advocates for legislation combating image-based abuse, has long pushed for the criminalization of nonconsensual distribution of intimate images (NDII). But the CCRI said it could not support the Take It Down Act because it may ultimately provide survivors with “false hope.” On Bluesky, CCRI President Mary Anne Franks called the takedown provision a “poison pill … that will likely end up hurting victims more than it helps.”

“Platforms that feel confident that they are unlikely to be targeted by the FTC (for example, platforms that are closely aligned with the current administration) may feel emboldened to simply ignore reports of NDII,” they wrote. “Platforms attempting to identify authentic complaints may encounter a sea of false reports that could overwhelm their efforts and jeopardize their ability to operate at all.”

In an interview with The Verge, Franks expressed concern that it could be “hard for people to parse” the takedown provision. “This is going to be a year-long process,” she said. “I think that as soon as that process has happened, you’ll then be seeing the FTC being very selective in how they treat supposed non-compliance with the statute. It’s not going to be about putting the power in the hands of depicted individuals to actually get their content removed.”

Trump, during his signing ceremony, dismissively referenced criticism of the bill. “People talked about all sorts of First Amendment, Second Amendment… they talked about any amendment they could make up, and we got it through,” he said.

Legal challenges to the most problematic parts may not come immediately, however, according to Becca Branum, deputy director of CDT’s Free Expression Project. “It’s so ambiguously drafted that I think it’ll be hard for a court to parse when it will be enforced unconstitutionally” before platforms have to implement it, Branum said. Eventually, users could sue if they have lawful content removed from platforms, and companies could ask a court to overturn the law if the FTC investigates or penalizes them for breaking it — it just depends on how quickly enforcement ramps up.

Motorola has confirmed a delayed Razr (2025) launch at Verizon carriers while rumors swirl around devices catching on fire.

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Get one of the best portable Bluetooth speakers out there for significantly less money

If you want the thinnest Razer gaming laptop, you'll need to pay a little more.

Game creator and episode six director Neil Druckmann details why a major Joel and Ellie moment was moved up in the story.

The National Ignition Facility, home of the first net-positive fusion reaction, is back with an even more powerful energy shot.

"How about you show 'em how Microsoft is killing Palestinians?" an employee shouted during Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's keynote.

Breathe easier, live healthier, and enjoy the peace of mind that your indoor air is as clean as it can be.

The Take It Down Act requires platforms to remove instances of “intimate visual depiction” within two days. Free speech advocates warn it could be weaponized to fuel censorship.

The new deal covers solar and storage projects being developed in South Carolina by EnergyRe.

There's a lot to look at, watch, and listen to on the web. Fully utilizing the bookmarks feature in Google Chrome can be a real help in staying on top of everything.

Chrome is the browser I use most often, and I've got a huge number of bookmarked sites inside it: long reads I want to get back to once work is done, news updates to write up for work, gift ideas, apps I'd like to check out, important Slack channels, and content systems for my job… the list goes on. All synced between devices and available everywhere.

If you haven't done a deep dive into Chrome's bookmarks feature then you might not be aware of everything you can do with it, how it can save you time, and how you can bring some kind of order to your web browsing.

Saving bookmarks

The star icon to the right of the address bar in Chrome on the desktop is for saving new bookmarks. Click it and the current page gets saved to the most recently used bookmarks folder. You can also press Ctrl+D (Windows) or Cmd+D (macOS), which is even easier. On mobile, tap the three dots at the top then the star icon (Android), or the three dots at the bottom then Add to bookmarks (iOS) to save the current page as a new bookmark.

As soo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

This afternoon’s collection of Android game and app deals courtesy of Google Play is waiting for you below. Both Best Buy and Amazon have now launched Memorial Day sales a full week ahead of time, and we also spotted some notable price drops on a range of gear from across the Androidverse – Nothing Ear, $80 off all Galaxy Watch 7 with a FREE $50 to $70 extra band, the originally $350 Pixel Watch 2 for $150, and Google Pixel 9/Pro devices at up to $300 off. As for the apps, highlights include Conquistadorio, Sadhana, Homo Machina, Super Onion Boy 2, and more. Head below for a closer look. 

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If there’s one constant in the lustrum-long Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit, it’s that Tim Sweeney, Epic’s CEO, tends to… get creative when it comes to publicly interpreting and promoting the company’s legal wins.

Late last Friday, Epic once again tried to spin a limited courtroom victory into a public-relations campaign. Now, it has been granted a chance to make the antics fly in court.

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At last year’s WWDC, Apple Intelligence certainly stole the show. I personally believe iOS 18 still would’ve been a very substantial software upgrade, even without a single AI upgrade.

One of the large non-AI upgrades in iOS 18, besides the fully redesigned Photos app, is actually a subtle yet massive win for user privacy. Here’s why.

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Driverless vehicles that respond more like humans will cause less harm during road crashes, according to research

Movement Strategy has acquired Newfangled Studios in an eight-figure all-cash deal that combines organic and paid social capabilities.

Google’s NotebookLM app for Android is out now, as reported by 9to5Google, and is expected to launch for iOS and iPadOS on May 20th, according to the app’s App Store listing.

The app appears to offer similar functionality to the desktop version of NotebookLM, including the ability to upload sources of information that the app can summarize. It can also make AI-generated, podcast-like Audio Overviews.

With the app, you can listen to those Audio Overviews in the background while you’re doing other things on your phone or while offline, Google says. Might be a handy way to get caught up on your performance review.

The company teased the launch of the mobile app for the AI-powered tool last month. Its official arrival is happening just ahead of Google I/O, which kicks off with the opening keynote at 1PM ET on Tuesday. It’s probably going to be an AI show.

After showing up at random for the past few weeks, Walmart has unceremoniously released the Onn 4K Plus, its $30 Google TV streaming device that acts as a perfect Chromecast replacement.

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Footage from 'Kung Fury 2' leaked recently and now director David Sandberg is discussing why the film hasn't been released.