Hasbro has launched Sixth Wall, a new AI studio designed to offer authorized, licensed versions of its beloved characters to third-party companies. This initiative aims to combat the proliferation of unauthorized AI-generated content by providing a controlled, brand-approved platform for interactive experiences.
The studio will collaborate with original voice actors, including Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, to bring authenticity to these new AI-enabled interactions. A proprietary CharacterOS platform ensures each character’s personality and behavior remain consistent with their established identity.
“Every IP owner looks at all of the millions of unauthorized versions of their characters on other tech platforms and frontier models, and it’s not a great experience for fans, and it’s not on brand for us,” Sixth Wall CEO Roberta Thomson told The Hollywood Reporter. She explained the studio offers an “authorized end-to-end blue check version” that companies can license, guaranteeing characters appear in approved contexts within set guardrails.
“Right now all of our IP is sitting in static media, trapped in a toy on a shelf, a movie, a video game, but as these characters come to life and interact and speak in real-time, you have to govern their behavior,” Thomson added. “That’s a different set of technical and brand challenges, and it’s that expertise that we’ve developed.”
CharacterOS functions as a “golden record” for each piece of intellectual property, defining personality traits and behavioral boundaries. For example, Mr. Potato Head will not offer cooking tips, and Cobra Commander remains focused on world domination rather than giving business advice.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks described CharacterOS as compelling because it “unlocks a bigger creative canvas while addressing a real challenge in AI: the unauthorized use of content.” He emphasized its creator-first model gives voice talent a meaningful role and allows brands to bring characters into new AI platforms authentically.
The initial character lineup includes Mr. Potato Head, Megatron from Transformers, Cobra Commander from G.I. Joe, and the cast of the Clue board game. Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen since the 1980s, will also be available. For characters without established voice actors, Hasbro approached interested professionals in the field.
Thomson stressed that using real voice actors is “crucial” to the strategy. The studio will not use the voices for films or TV shows, only for AI-enabled interactive experiences that are new and additive. “We could have decided to move forward with synthetic voices… but it didn’t feel like the right thing to do,” she said, adding that these experiences represent a new revenue source for talent.
Sixth Wall will function “almost like the talent agents who are offering up these characters to licensees who might want to build fun experiences with them,” with real voices included in the package. The company is also partnering with ElevenLabs to bring select characters to its audio marketplace.
Thomson reported real enthusiasm from potential licensees the studio has already contacted. The company is currently focused on consumer experiences and enterprise use-cases for audiences aged 13 and older, targeting areas like interactive storytelling, conversational games, connected products, AI brand ambassadors, location-based entertainment, and dynamic customer service agents.
“Imagine like giant animatronic robot [say, perhaps, Optimus Prime?] walking around in a theme park and entertaining guests as they’re waiting in line,” Thomson illustrated. “Suddenly, your one hour wait in line becomes a really fun and delightful and engaging experience.”
She also described scenarios like playing Trivial Pursuit with an AI character while on hold with customer service, or exploring branching narrative experiences that are dynamic and personalized. “You can take a story in any direction,” she said.
Sixth Wall represents a potential model for other intellectual property owners grappling with character misuse in new technologies. Last year, Disney briefly partnered with OpenAI to bring its characters to the Sora platform after seeing them misused there. Licensing character traits and voices may be the next logical step for the industry.
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