The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in an announcement on Friday of updates to its rules and regulations, eliminated any gray area about its position on artificial intelligence: AI is not welcome at the Oscars.
The organization’s board of governors decreed that the only sorts of performances that will be eligible for acting Oscars are those credited in a film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent. (This appears to address questions raised by the posthumous completion of a performance by Val Kilmer, who died in 2025, using AI.). Additionally, the Academy explicitly spelled out that only human-authored screenplays are eligible for writing Oscars.
Under Eligibility (Rule Two), which pertains to Generative Artificial Intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of AI use and human authorship.
In other major news, the Academy revisited its longstanding policy that the best international feature Oscar race will only consider one film from any country or region as chosen by a local Academy-approved selection committee. Henceforth, a film can also qualify for consideration in the category by winning the top prize at one of several major international film festivals: Berlin, Busan, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto or Venice. In other words, a single country or region could now land multiple noms for the best international feature Oscar.
Additionally, the best international feature Oscar will no longer be awarded to a country or region, but rather to its director on behalf of it. Earlier this year, for example, that category’s Oscar was won by Sentimental Value, but the winner was technically Norway, not filmmaker Joachim Trier. Henceforth, the director’s name will also appear on the Oscar plaque and in the record books.
Another big change: actors may now be nominated for multiple performances in the same category. Only in the earliest years of the Oscars was it possible for an actor to be nominated against himself or herself; for instance, Norma Shearer, for The Divorcee, won the best actress Oscar at the third Academy Awards over a field that included Norma Shearer, for Their Own Desire. A subsequent rule change mandated that if a single performer gave multiple performances that received enough votes to finish in the top five spots for a category, only the higher-tallying performance would be nominated. Now, though, multiple performances can be, aligning the acting categories with all other categories, in which an individual can receive multiple noms.
Had this rule been in place in, say, 2009, Kate Winslet might have received two best actress Oscar noms, for The Reader and Revolutionary Road, rather than just one, for The Reader — which might have actually made it harder for her to win for either one, as she did that year, given that she could be splitting her own support.
The Governors Awards — at which the Academy annually celebrates up to four individuals or groups with some combination of honorary Oscars, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — will also be impacted by a new rule change. Moving forward, a minimum of three “disciplines” must be represented in any given year.
In other words, it seems like the Governors Awards ceremony of 2021, at which the honorees were the filmmakers David Lynch and Lina Wertmüller and the actors Geena Davis and Wes Studi — would not be possible in the future, given that only two disciplines were represented.
The Academy also made a bunch of other tinkers.
The number of people eligible to win an Oscar statuette for best casting has been increased from two to three.
The best cinematography category will now produce a shortlist of 20 films, as opposed to somewhere between 10 and 20.
Makeup and hairstylists branch members will no longer be eligible to vote for the category’s shortlist unless they have attended at least one of the two final branch meetings (roundtables).
To be eligible for the best original song Oscar, tunes that begin with the end credits must now be submitted to the music branch with the last 15 seconds of the film before the end credits.
Members of all branches have been eligible to vote for the best visual effects Oscar in the final round of voting but will now only be able to do so if they have viewed the three-minute “before and after” reels captured at the visual effects bake-off and posted to the Academy Screening Room members-only streaming service.
As far as campaign promotional regulations, the Academy dictated that screenings with Q&A sessions or panel discussions before nominations may now have up to two moderators instead of one moderator. And all email blasts to members via an Academy-approved mailing house must now include an email address or phone number for inquiries regarding venue accessibility.
Finally, the Academy also provided submission deadlines and other key dates pertaining to the lead-up to the 99th Oscars on Sunday, March 14, 2027:
Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026: First submission deadline for animated short film, documentary feature film, documentary short film and live action short film categories
Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026: First submission deadline for general entry categories, animated feature film, best picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026: Submission deadline for international feature film
Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026: Final submission deadline for animated short film, documentary short film and live action short film categories
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026: Submission deadline for music (original song)
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026: Final submission deadline for documentary feature film
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026: Submission deadline for music (original score)
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026: Final submission deadline for general entry categories, animated feature film, best picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form
Jan. 8 – 10, 2027: Casting, makeup and hairstyling, sound and visual effects voting events (bake-offs)
