AI-Recreated Greta Garbo Appears in Ball-Bearing Advertisement

Summary

A Swedish SKF advertisement has used AI to recreate the likeness, mannerisms and voice of Hollywood star Greta Garbo, decades after her death. Garbo’s descendants, who manage rights to her name, image, voice and publicity, say they are open to considering an AI version of her for a future film role, although no such role is announced. The 99-second commercial connects to Garbo’s early career: her second screen appearance was in a 1921 promotional film associated with the Gothenburg-based company. Its creators used text prompts to generate features such as her ice-blue eyes and wavy blond hair because Garbo’s existing moving and still images were copyright-protected. A human actor performed the role, while an AI-generated appearance was overlaid and her voice was recreated from an early-film recording. The production used models including China’s Seedream and Google’s Nano Banana Pro. The result has renewed debate about “ghostploitation” and the use of deceased performers’ identities, while the article places it within wider investment in AI filmmaking. Garbo’s relatives describe the result as lifelike and emotionally striking, but the advertisement’s dialogue has been criticized as less accomplished than the writing in her original films.