Organizing Creative Labor in the Age of AI: Institutional Differences and Transnational Connections Across the US and EU

This paper examines how cultural and creative workers (CCW) in the United States and European Union have organized in response to the rise of artificial intelligence in cultural and creative industries since 2023. Drawing on documentary analysis and interviews that contextualize and interpret the secondary material, it examines parallel developments in the two contexts to explore how different institutional settings shape CCWs’ collective responses to AI. The analysis highlights distinct institutional pathways and mobilization repertoires, yet increasingly shared concerns around authorship, consent, transparency, and remuneration, pointing toward increasingly interconnected CCW ecosystems across geographical boundaries. The paper thus argues that AI-related mobilization is shaped both by institutional contexts and emerging transnational connections, contributing to broader debates on creative labor, collective organization, and the governance of emerging technologies.