Ankler Agenda

1,000 Sony Hacks at Once? Hollywood’s AI Doomsday

September 17, 2026·37 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

A dire warning from Anthropic and OpenAI that increasingly autonomous AI agents could launch cyberattacks – or worse – has an especially chilling implication for Hollywood, where studios and streamers are rapidly weaving AI into their businesses. "Imagine a world in which there are thousands of Sony hacks happening in real time," Reel AI columnist Erik Barmack tells Elaine Low and Sean McNulty. "You could take down the entire industry. Confidentiality, protections, the secure release of IP – all of those things could be harmed." And while the guilds fight generative AI and Hollywood hashes out rules for how the technology can be used, Erik says the industry may be focused on the wrong threat: "What happens when recursive learning gets better and better, and these agents go off and do thinking on their own?" Plus: There may finally be momentum behind a federal film and TV tax incentive. Rep. Laura Friedman tells Elaine that lawmakers from both parties are working with Hollywood's guilds and Jon Voight – Donald Trump's special Hollywood ambassador, whom she describes as a key bridge to the president. Friedman says she hopes the proposal can move by year-end – and describes the unusual bipartisan effort as giving lawmakers "an extra sort of joy" in working together: "We're still one country." 00:00 Intro 00:24 Welcome To Ankler Agenda 01:35 Paramount Vs. State AG Showdown 03:00 Did Bari Weiss Sink 60 Minutes? 04:46 Ai Leaders Sound The Alarm 05:53 The 1,200 Agent 'Collective' 08:21 Hollywood's Big AI Bet 09:41 Bots That Lie And Hack 10:49 The Next Sony Hack, Times 1,000 12:59 Will A Slow Down Actually Happen? 13:41 Guilds Fighting The Last Battle 15:20 Studios Vs. Big Tech Power 17:44 Bring Back The Landline 18:40 Next: Rep. Laura Friedman 19:01 Hollywood's Economic Freefall 20:40 143,000 Jobs On The Line 21:51 From Film Producer To Congress 24:38 Inside The Bill And The Timeline 26:30 Jon Voight's Role As Trump's Bridge 29:05 Bipartisanship In A Polarized Era 31:05 Selling It To Non-Hollywood States 32:28 California's $750 Million Fight 34:30 The Goal: Every Soundstage Full Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of Ankler Agenda and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.