The new AI companion app for the NBA has gotten the league involved in some controversy right now.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Rookie of the Year-favorite Victor Wembanyama gave a demonstration of the NB-AI to those in attendance at the NBA 2024 All-Star Technology Summit during All-Star Weekend. This AI voice assistant is trained by the NBA and will use text-to-video and generative AI technology to allow fans to personalize how they watch live games on the NBA app.
In the Tweet below, you can watch as Silver requests that the Pacers game be shown to him on the app as if it were a Spider-Man movie.
Perhaps because Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the most recent and (as of right now) most popular Spider-Man film, the AI voice assistant added an Across the Spider-Verse overlay to the game.
As you can see, writer and producer of Across the Spider-Verse Christopher Miller did not enjoy the demonstration. He continued by saying that he wasn't sure if the NBA had received clearance from Sony prior to the demonstration, but if not, it's possible that legal action may be explored.
What is your stance on the usage of films and visuals created by artificial intelligence? Given how quickly technology is developing, it won't be long until the AI sector is subject to national and municipal laws.
With a $100 million budget, Across the Spider-Verse generated $690.5 million worldwide, outperforming its predecessor. It was the sixth-highest earning movie of 2023 and the highest-grossing picture for Sony Pictures Animation.
But with the film's massive cliffhanger conclusion, fans of the animated Miles Morales trilogy are dying to know how the series will conclude.
The trilogy's finale was initially scheduled to open in theaters in March, but Sony withdrew it from its release schedule after word spread that animators were nowhere close to finishing work on the third installment.
An animated spin-off series centered on Hailee Steinfeld's Spider-Gwen and Issa Rae's Jessica Drew has already been confirmed to be in development at Sony, and there's already talk of a live-action version of the Spider-Verse movie.
Unfortunately, there is still no confirmed release date for Beyond the Spider-Verse. Current estimates suggest it might not arrive until late-2025, though this remains speculative.