Revolt against the machines began at Swingers. And at Bob's Big Boy, where for weeks Drew Carey picked up the tab. Members of the Writers Guild of America, or WGA, met at both Los Angeles-area diners frequently during their 148-day strike, which hinged on protecting Hollywood's scribes from being overrun by the march of artificial intelligence. Members of the WGA were just a small part of the resistance. The Screen Actors Guild--American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, soon joined them on the picket lines, together forming a formidable uprising against the perceived threat of AI.

The Hollywood writers' union has said its members can begin to return to work, ending a five-month strike that drove production in the United States entertainment industry to a grinding halt. The work stoppage officially ended just after midnight on Wednesday (07:01 GMT), the Writers Guild of America (WGA) said, with writers permitted to return to work. However, the 11,500 members of the union still need to vote on a deal reached between their leadership and production heads. That vote is set to take place between October 2 and 9. Still, the preliminary deal largely showed major gains for writers, who sought commitments to respond to an industry that has been transformed by streaming platforms and that faces the prospect of further upheaval amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Comedian Adam Conover, who became a leading figure in the strike, hailed the deal as a victory.

Piers Morgan weighs in on the return of Bill Maher's'Real Time' amid writers strike on'One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.' After initially declaring his show would return amid the writers strike, talk show host Bill Maher announced Monday he has reversed that decision for the time being. "Real Time with Bill Maher's" 21st season was cut short after Hollywood writers went on strike in May. Writers are asking for higher pay, a guaranteed number of writers per room, better residuals and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the writing process in their list of demands. With no foreseeable end to the strike, Maher initially revealed that the show would return without writers and simply skip the segments that rely on writers.

One of the Writers Guild of America strike issues is me. Writers are better than me! If I was good, I would have an Emmy. That's because I have no idea how to write anything interesting or that sounds like it was written by a real human being. That is why I am writing this op-ed.

Even the orcas are organizing. On the ninth day of the Writers Guild of America strike, no one on the picket lines knows about the chaos at sea. They don't know that the Screen Actors Guild, or SAG, will join them, or that 340,000 UPS workers and 30,000 Los Angeles Unified School District employees will vote to authorize the same, or that Sega of America will soon become the largest union shop in gaming. And none of those people have any idea that as they craft signs and fill water bottles, orcas are amassing in unprecedented numbers in Monterey Bay and Martha's Vineyard. They have attacked approximately 250 vessels since 2020.

Media mogul Barry Diller urged all parties to reach a resolution by September 1 amid ongoing Hollywood strikes during a Sunday interview on'Face the Nation.' Paramount CEO Barry Diller delivered a grim prediction for Hollywood on Sunday, warning that the industry is facing an "absolute collapse" if the Writers' and Screen Actors Guild joint strike extends into the fall. "What will happen is, if in fact, it doesn't get settled until Christmas or so, then next year, there's not going to be many programs for anybody to watch. So, you're gonna see subscriptions get pulled, which is going to reduce the revenue of all these movie companies, television companies, the result of which is that there will be no programs," Diller said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. "And at just the time, [the] strike is settled that you want to get back up, there won't be enough money."

Hollywood shuts down as actors and writers hit the picket line in the first industry-wide strike in over 60 years. Fox News spoke to Americans from New York, Texas, Tennessee and Wisconsin to get their thoughts on Tinseltown going dark. Hollywood actors joined screenwriters in their months long strike against studios, streaming services and production companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Thursday, marking the first time in over six decades that the two unions have been on strike at the same time. Many moviegoers and TV fanatics who Fox News Digital spoke to realize the impact the strike will have on their favorite shows and movies as production grinds to a halt. Since May, writers, represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike, asking for a guaranteed number of writers per room, increased pay, and regulated use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the writing process.

Stealing someone else's joke is one of the highest crimes in comedy. With new AI tools like ChatGPT, some comedians are now worried about getting ripped off. After comedian Sarah Silverman joined a lawsuit against OpenAI and Meta for allegedly using her content to train their bots without permission, one comic told Fox News ChatGPT does not pose a threat to him. "In terms of how ChatGPT affects comedy, yes, I think we're going to enter the golden age of in-print comedians, meaning people who can type things on the internet," said Jimmy Failla, comedian and host of "Fox Across America" on Fox News Radio and Fox Nation. "But where true performers and people with actual charisma and comedic wherewithal will always flourish is no one's going to show up to a comedy club and buy a two-drink minimum to stare at a laptop, typing out words, or even saying those words through some Bluetooth audio," he continued.

Veritone CEO Ryan Steelberg says the Writers Guild of America needs to make sure their writers are protected as AI becomes more popular. Nearly two weeks into the national writers' strike spearheaded by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), little progress has been made between both sides. The WGA has a litany of requests for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Per its website, the WGA has specific proposals with regard to artificial intelligence, including the "regulation of AI on minimum basic agreement (MBA) -covered projects; AI can't write or rewrite literary material; can't be used as source material; and MBA-covered material can't be used to train AI." When it comes to these provisions that surround artificial intelligence, studios have put the kibosh on writers' requests, instead suggesting annual meetings to review evolving technology.

The Monitor is a weekly column devoted to everything happening in the WIRED world of culture, from movies to memes, TV to Twitter. Earlier this week, on the red (technically striped) carpet of the Met Gala, The Dropout star Amanda Seyfried answered a tough question: What did she think about the then-impending Writers Guild of America strike? Wearing an elegant Oscar de La Renta dress made with 80,000 gold and platinum bugle beads, she told a Variety reporter that everything she'd heard from writer friends indicated they would picket if they couldn't reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Poised, draped in priceless garments and jewels, she remained firm. "I don't get what the problem is," she said.