Amazon MGM Studios and Amazon Web Services announced the GenAI Creators’ Fund on May 27 with considerable fanfare at their AI on the Lot event. The initiative promised funding and exclusive access to Project Nara, an internal AI production platform designed to speed up animation and live-action workflows. Within days Prime Video ordered three animated series created with the technology. Then the backlash hit. Hard. One prominent director walked away. A character creator condemned the project as an assault on artists. Social media lit up with anger from animators who see the move as another step toward displacing human labor. The episode reveals deep tensions in an industry already strained by strikes, consolidation and uncertainty over artificial intelligence. The three greenlit projects were Punky Duck from Jorge R.…