Jon Favreau: 'A Healthy Concern' About AI in Hollywood

Jon Favreau told CBS Sunday Morning on May 17, 2026 that he has "a healthy concern about what might come" regarding artificial intelligence in Hollywood. The interview aired three days after the world premiere of The Mandalorian and Grogu at the TCL Theatre in Hollywood, the first Star Wars film shot entirely in Los Angeles.

Transparency Over Avoidance

"Trying to avoid innovation doesn't seem to be a winning strategy," Favreau said, "but helping to have transparency when using new technologies, understanding as best we could the ramifications of them, really thinking things through and trying to be responsible, I think that's important."

Correspondent Tracy Smith conducted the interview for the national broadcast. Favreau named responsibility and transparency as the appropriate response to AI, without calling for abstention from the technology.

"Life has improved, but there are always unintended consequences if anything novel is embraced without being thoughtful," he added.

A Pioneer's Position

Favreau is among Hollywood's most technically engaged practitioners. He pioneered large scale LED virtual production on the original Mandalorian television series, a method now standard at major studios across the industry.

The Mandalorian and Grogu was produced entirely in California, a first for the Star Wars franchise. Favreau has previously expressed concern that production technologies pioneered by independent creators can be appropriated by studios in ways that harm the originators.

Hollywood's Divided Response to AI

Favreau's measured CBS statement arrives during the most publicly fractured week of debate over AI in Hollywood. At Cannes, Seth Rogen told reporters that writers who use AI for scripts should not call themselves writers. Demi Moore, serving on the 2026 Cannes jury, described fighting AI as "a battle we will lose" and urged finding ways to work with the technology.

Hannah Einbinder called AI creators "losers" and "not creative" in April 2026. Favreau engaged with none of those positions directly. He framed the question in terms of process: thoughtfulness, transparency, and an awareness that new technologies carry unintended consequences.

The CBS Sunday Morning platform gave his statement a national audience well beyond the entertainment trade press, during the promotional cycle for a major Disney theatrical release. The Creators Coalition, backed by more than 500 industry signatories, has taken a more structural approach to the same concerns.

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Sources

Deadline | CBS Sunday Morning | The Hollywood Reporter | Variety