Chief Negotiator Unveils 'Level Playing Field' Strategy at CES 2026 Ahead of February Talks
Synthetic Performer Cost Parity, AI Training Data Restrictions, Disclosure Requirements Among Key Agenda Items
January 15, 2026 | CES 2026, Las Vegas
▲ SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (right) during an interview at the CES 2026 C-Space Studio
"If synthetics cost the same as a human, they're going to choose a human every time."
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, unveiled the union's AI negotiation strategy at CES 2026. Making his eighth appearance at CES, he detailed the union's approach in interviews with Puck's Matt Belloni and C-Space Studio's James Coteki, just one month before collective bargaining with studios and streamers begins on February 9. The core strategy: making AI performers as expensive as human actors. By eliminating cost-saving incentives, the union aims to prevent employers from choosing AI-generated performers over real actors like Emma Stone or Viola Davis.
The Role of Unions: More Important Than Ever
In the C-Space Studio interview, Crabtree-Ireland addressed the role of unions in an era where technology is reshaping everything. "The role of unions is more important than ever, and we are seeing that in the resurgence of interest in the American public in unions," he said. "As corporations become bigger and more powerful, as technology is being deployed by these companies, a lot of times without involvement from their workers, people are saying, 'We really need to join together and stand up for ourselves, otherwise we're just going to get run over.'"