Who Owns SpongeBob? AI Shakes Hollywood’s Creative Foundation

When Paramount Global’s technology chief Phil Wiser previewed for company leaders the risks and wonders of artificial intelligence, he turned to SpongeBob SquarePants.

Mr. Wiser instructed an AI tool called DALL-E to show SpongeBob, one of Paramount’s iconic characters, flying a plane. An image of the rectangular cartoon star doing just that appeared on a large TV screen, during the presentation to Chief Executive Bob Bakish and others earlier this year. Next, Mr. Wiser asked the tool to show “Transformers” character Optimus Prime on the Paramount studios lot. Within seconds, it spit out an image of the towering robot next to the cafe on the lot.