Congressman Ro Khanna Speaks In Solidarity With Striking Writers On Picket Line, Addresses Rise Of AI: “ChatGPT Is Not Going To Produce ‘Hamlet’ ”

deadline.com:

As striking writers gathered Wednesday afternoon outside Netflix’s Manhattan headquarters, they were greeted by a visitor from what might be considered enemy territory: U.S.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman whose 17th district sits in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. Khanna, here as an ally, gave a rousing speech through a bullhorn to demonstrators as their protest got underway on the second day of the WGA strike. “Many of us in Congress will be standing with you in your just fight,” he said to cheers.

Before then, Khanna spoke with Deadline about the disruptions caused by technologies, such as streaming and artificial intelligence, that have emerged from the computational laboratories in his home district. “Writers are the heart and soul of the entertainment that we watch,” he said, adding that the models for compensating them “have changed because of the technology in my district in Silicon Valley.

Watch it here:Watch as U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) gives a rousing speech to demonstrators outside Netflix’s Manhattan headquarters today: “We need to uplift our writers.