Tyler Perry is putting his studio expansion on hold after seeing the full capabilities of AI technology.

According to IndieWire, Perry is putting his $800 million expansion of Tyler Perry Studios “indefinitely on hold” after he witnessed OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora. According to the article, Perry spent four years planning the expansion, “which would have added 12 soundstages to the bakclot.”

Perry described the technology as “mind-blowing.”

“All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I’m seeing,” he said. “I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it’s able to do. It’s shocking to me. Being told that it can do all of these things is one thing, but actually seeing the capabilities, it was mind-blowing.”

Sora, said Perry, could make it so that studios don’t have to do multiple-location shoots for films or even build practical sets. But even though he has used AI in two upcoming films for aging makeup, he said that the technology could cause below-the-line workers to be negatively affected.

“It makes me worry so much about all of the people in the business. Because as I was looking at it, I immediately started thinking of everyone in the industry who would be affected by this, including actors and grip and electric and transportation and sound and editors, and looking at this, I’m thinking this will touch every corner of our industry,” he said. “I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost. I really, really feel that very strongly.”

Perry wants an “all hands on [deck]” approach to wrangling in AI when it comes to how it could affect artisans. He said that the entire industry must come together to determine how the industry uses AI capabilities.

“It can’t be one union fighting every contract every two or three years. I think that it has to be everybody, all involved in how do we protect the future of our industry because it is changing rapidly, right before our eyes,” he said, going on to say that the workers in the industry must be protected.

“I think the only way to move forward in this is to galvanize it as one voice, not only in Hollywood and in this industry, but also in Congress,” he continued.