Wizards of the Coast Union Demands Company Stop Pushing Generative AI

The Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering teams at Wizards of the Coast have announced their decision to unionize, joining the Wizards of the Coast-CWA (UWOTC-CWA) union. This union, formed by the Arena team earlier this year, now includes the Dungeons & Dragons team and Team X, which handles Magic: The Gathering and Dual Masters.

The union has urged Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast leaders to halt their push towards generative AI. After months of negotiations, the Arena team, responsible for the online version of Magic: The Gathering, successfully held a union election, and on October 8, the expanded union adopted both the Dungeons & Dragons team and Team X. The Wizards of the Coast-CWA has given the company until October 13 to acknowledge the expanded unit.

The union has presented a petition with demands to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, one of which is protection against AI encroachment. The team stated, "Leadership, without regard for the desires of our teams, has pushed for adoption of LLMs and generative AI. This has to stop; our teams deserve a robust and enforceable AI policy that aligns with our goals and values."

Similar to their initial demands, the union is also seeking full ownership of any creations made outside of work, emphasizing that employees' personal creative endeavors should not be dictated or owned by the company. The new petition reiterates this demand, stating that any intellectual property created by employees during their tenure at Wizards, including works unrelated to Wizards IP, should belong to the employees.

If Hasbro does not recognize the union, it will have to challenge the decision through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and win another election.