Gal Gadot Reveals Six Month AI Contract Battle for New Film Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi
Gal Gadot has revealed that negotiations for Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi took six months as she fought to protect her performance from AI.
Gal Gadot has revealed that her contract for the upcoming film Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi took six months to negotiate because of concerns over how artificial intelligence could be used.
The film, directed by Doug Liman, uses AI extensively behind the scenes, but Gadot wanted clear contractual protection to ensure the technology could not alter her acting. She discussed the negotiations during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where she described the agreement as the longest contract she had ever worked on.
Gal Gadot wanted a clear line around her performance
Gadot explained that her lawyers spent months considering different possible uses of AI before the final agreement was reached.
“This was the longest contract I have ever worked on,” she said.
She added that the process lasted around six months because her legal team wanted to consider different scenarios involving the technology. Gadot also said she did not want AI involved in her performance itself, with protections written into the agreement around that point.
The negotiations apparently attracted wider industry attention too. Gadot said SAG-AFTRA contacted her lawyers to ask for guidance that could help strengthen protections for other performers, showing how closely Hollywood is watching agreements being made around AI.
How AI is being used in Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi
The film was shot on a custom-built soundstage in West London rather than across the many international locations seen in the story. TheWrap, which visited the production, reported that the actors performed against unfinished backgrounds inside a grey-screen environment.
The AI work happens largely in post-production. Sets and lighting are being generated after filming, while traditional costumes, props and physical performance remain part of the production itself. TheWrap also reported that the project was shot over 20 days and that its producers put the budget at around $70 million.
Those producers claimed the same film could have cost more than $300 million if its roughly 200 locations had been created using conventional methods. That figure comes from the production team rather than an independent assessment, but it helps explain why studios and filmmakers are exploring AI so aggressively.
Gadot says AI cannot simply be ignored
Gadot has also admitted that she is uneasy about artificial intelligence, but believes performers need to understand how it works rather than pretend it is going away.
Her position is therefore more complicated than simply being for or against AI. Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi is becoming an early example of how Hollywood may try to use the technology heavily behind the camera while putting contractual limits around what can happen to the actors themselves.
For more on how artificial intelligence is changing film, television, music and digital entertainment, keep checking SoapLandTV’s AI & Entertainment section for our latest coverage.
You can listen to Gal Gadot’s full interview with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, where she discusses the AI protections surrounding Bitcoin: Killing Satoshi, as well as The Runner, Wonder Woman and her wider career.
