The NBA is currently enmeshed in a bit of controversy thanks to its new AI companion app.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Rookie of the Year-favorite Victor Wembanyama demonstrated to onlookers the NB-AI, an NBA-trained AI voice assistant that will leverage generative, text-to-video AI technology to customize how fans watch live games on the NBA app. The panel took place during the All-Star Weekend's NBA 2024 All-Star Technology Summit.
In the video below, Silver asks the app to show him the Pacers game as if it were a Spider-Man movie.
The AI voice assistant then applied an Across the Spider-Verse overlay to the game, likely because Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the most recent and (currently) most popular Spider-Man movie to date.
You can see the results below.
As you can see, Across the Spider-Verse writer and producer Christopher Miller was not a fan of the demonstration. He went on to add that he's not sure if the NBA cleared anything with Sony before its demonstration but if not, it's likely that legal action will be explored.
Where do you stand on the use of AI-generated images and videos? With the rapid progression of the technology, it likely won't be long before the AI industry has federal and local regulations.
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.