At least some businesses seem to have no compunctions about using AI, even as a part of their creative operations.
UFC CEO Dana White made this abundantly clear at a post-fight press conference following UFC Seattle on March 28, 2026. When a journalist raised fan complaints about the UFC using AI-generated content in its broadcasts — and the argument that the organization should be paying human artists instead — White’s response was characteristically unfiltered.
The exchange began when the journalist noted that fans had been noticing what appeared to be AI-generated promotional content in UFC broadcasts since the Paramount+ deal kicked off at the start of 2026.
“What does that mean?” White asked.
When the journalist clarified — AI-generated commercials, promotional content, generative AI in UFC productions in general — White pushed back further: “What are they complaining about?”
The journalist explained that fans felt the UFC should be paying artists instead of using generative AI.
White’s response left no room for ambiguity:
“Give me a fucking break. AI is coming, and if we’re using AI, who gives a shit? People are upset about it. We should use artists. How about this? Shut the fuck up and watch the fights.”
White’s stance is a sharp contrast to how other content creators have handled similar backlash. When Mr. Beast launched an AI thumbnail generation tool for YouTubers, he faced immediate criticism that it displaced human artists — and promptly pulled it down, replacing it with a marketplace to hire human thumbnail designers instead. White’s response suggests no such reversal is coming at the UFC.
The UFC’s embrace of AI extends well beyond promotional videos. The organization named IBM as its first Official AI Partner in late 2024, deploying the UFC Insights Engine — powered by IBM’s watsonx platform and drawing on over 13 million data points from two decades of fights — to generate real-time in-fight statistics and pre-fight analytical narratives for broadcasters. White has also partnered with Meta to build an AI-driven fighter rankings system intended to replace the long-criticized media-panel model, with White having appointed to Meta’s Board of Directors in January 2025.
AI is already being used in some creative fields. Netflix and Amazon Prime have used AI for their shows, and an Indian movie from 2013 was re-released with an alternate ending generated by AI.
The broader question White’s comments raise is whether the bluntness of his position will become more common among business leaders as AI-generated creative content becomes normalized. The debate over AI displacing artists is unlikely to go away — but for now, at least in the UFC’s corner, the answer is simply: watch the fights.