Cate Blanchett Launches RSL Media to Champion Consent in the AI-Driven Creative Era

Variety · 2026-05-12
Cate Blanchett Launches RSL Media to Champion Consent in the AI-Driven Creative Era

Cate Blanchett has co-founded RSL Media, a pioneering non-profit organization dedicated to establishing a universal consent framework for the use of human creative work, likeness, and identity in artificial intelligence. Supported by a roster of industry legends including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and George Clooney, the initiative aims to address the growing concerns over the unchecked ingestion of intellectual property by generative AI models. By focusing on the concept of meaningful consent, RSL Media seeks to shift the current paradigm from passive opt-out policies to an active, transparent system where artists retain control over their digital output. The organization's launch signals a significant turning point in the entertainment industry's battle to balance technological innovation with the fundamental preservation of human artistry. With institutional support from major agencies, the group is poised to influence both global policy and industry standards, setting a precedent that protects individual creative autonomy against the rise of deepfakes and automated mimicry in the rapidly evolving digital media landscape.