: The AI likeness of Hollywood 1930s movie star Greta Garbo lilts, in an unlikely advert for Swedish ball-bearings maker SKF SKFb.ST.

The advert has sparked debate, praise and ridicule, but underscores how sophisticated AI is increasingly encroaching on media from script-writing to animation.

Garbo, one of the most famous stars of Hollywood's "golden era," died in 1990 at the age of 84, though she retired from movies and public life decades earlier in 1941.

SKF said it had used AI to "recreate" the Swedish-American star, who featured in a film over a century ago promoting Swedish industries abroad, including SKF.

"One of my first films was for SKF, and now I'm back for my last," the AI-generated character, dressed in a silky champagne-colored blouse, says in the advertisement.

The Garbo double was not made using archival photographs or footage, SKF said. Copyright issues meant it had been created with text prompts, said Per Nilsson, head of communication and brand at the company.

For image generation the creators used tools Seedream 5 Pro from China's ByteDance and Google GOOGL.O Gemini's Nano Banana Pro, while for motion ByteDance's Seedance 2 and 2.5 as well as Kling AI from Beijing-based tech firm Kuaishou 1024.HK, SKF said.

The voice was trained with AI using Garbo's voice from one of her early films — the only archival material fed to the AI for which SKF got permission — while a human actor helped get the pacing and cadence right.

"I think we did it in a respectful way," Nilsson said. The production was developed in collaboration with the Greta Garbo estate and her family.

While not the first time a campaign had used a deceased individual's likenesses to promote a product, the ad highlights what can now be achieved, said Henry Ajder, an AI advisor and researcher, calling it "synthetic resurrection."

"This is a trend that has been going back quite some years now, and AI has superpowered in a way," he said.

Not all were impressed.

"Poor Greta Garbo," wrote film critic Peter Bradshaw of British newspaper The Guardian, in a one-star review of the clip, adding that it gave us "another reason to resent AI."

Some current stars are also wary of the trend.

"I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I'm dead," actor George Clooney said at the Venice Film Festival last month.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: ADVERTISEMENT (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

1. AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ADVERT FEATURING AN AI-GENERATED GRETA GARBO

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) SKF DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND BRAND, PER NILSSON, SAYING:

“So it was super important for us to be super transparent, not just to secure that we follow all the regulations, but also as a principle for us at SKF. So we need to secure to have AI stamps in all productions. So it is super important that it's clear that this is an AI production. But it is also important for us to do the production in a very respectful manner and in very close collaboration with the Greta Garbo estate and her family to secure that it is done in a good way. And they've been following the whole process from start to beginning and they are super happy.”

ADVERTISEMENT (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

3. AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ADVERT FEATURING AN AI-GENERATED GRETA GARBO

4. VIDEO SHOWING GRETA GARBO IN SKF ADVERT FROM 100 YEARS AGO

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

5. (SOUNDBITE)(English) SKF DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND BRAND, PER NILSSON, ON QUESTION ABOUT GARBO BEING PRIVATE, SAYING:

“The idea that she's done this already once and the collaboration with SKF and her family, then it made sense to put her in the front this time, which actually is the same challenge (energy) that we have today that we had 100 years ago.”

ADVERTISEMENT (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

6. AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ADVERT FEATURING AN AI-GENERATED GRETA GARBO

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

7. (SOUNDBITE)(English) SKF DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND BRAND, PER NILSSON, SAYING:

"Obviously people can have different opinions, and I understand that. But I think that's part of our times where we are a little bit finding the role of AI. It will be part of our future. But I think the most important part is that we are transparent to show that we are not trying to fool anyone and that we do this in collaboration with the family, obviously."

ANIMATION (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

8. (MUTE) AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ANIMATION OF HOW ADVERT WAS MADE

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

9. (SOUNDBITE)(English) AI ADVISOR AND RESEARCHER, HENRY AJDER, SAYING:

“So the quality of the output is very, very good, but this is far from the first case of what I call synthetic resurrection that we've seen. This is a trend that has been going back quite some years now and AI has superpowered it in a way.”

ANIMATION (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

10. (MUTE) AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ANIMATION OF HOW ADVERT WAS MADE USING PROMPTS

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

11. (SOUNDBITE)(English) AI ADVISOR AND RESEARCHER, HENRY AJDER, SAYING:

"I think the interesting case here is the case that's existed all along with these kinds of synthetic resurrection incidences, which is around consent, it's around who owns our likeness after we die and it's about what are the limits of what our likenesses should be allowed to be used for if we haven't explicitly said in our will or prior to our death what we are happy with it being used for.”

ANIMATION (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

12. (MUTE) AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ANIMATION OF HOW ADVERT WAS MADE USING HUMAN ACTOR TO GET RIGHT PACING AND CADENCE

13. (MUTE) AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ANIMATION OF HOW GARBO’S VOICE FROM ONE OF HER EARLY FILMS WAS USED

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

14. (SOUNDBITE)(English) AI ADVISOR AND RESEARCHER, HENRY AJDER, SAYING:

“But I think in the longer term, we are going to start to see new norms emerging about what you should and shouldn't do. And then those norms, I'm sure, translate into some kind of legislation or policy that provides a better securing of a person's likeness and image and voice that stops brands from being able to functionally puppeteer the deceased as they want or with a kind of a surface level blessing from an estate.”

ANIMATION (ARCHIVE)(SKF – No commercial use. No resales)

15. (MUTE) AI-GENERATED VIDEO SHOWING SKF ANIMATION OF HOW COLOUR GRADING, RETOUCHES WERE USED TO REFINE THE IMAGE

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 1, 2026)(REUTERS – Access all)

16. (SOUNDBITE)(English) AI ADVISOR AND RESEARCHER, HENRY AJDER, SAYING:

“As to whether this is going to take off as a trend that we're going to see more and more often from brands and companies doing advertising is still to be seen. I think the ultimate question that that will come down to is whether it actually resonates with audiences, whether this actually helps them achieve what they're trying to do with advertising, which is often to sell more products or to do things that are going to help a business succeed. And that is still kind of, the jury is still out on that, I think in the longer term as to whether this is going to be a kind of a trend that catches on.”

VENICE, ITALY (ARCHIVE - SEPTEMBER 2, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

17. ACTOR AND DIRECTOR, GEORGE CLOONEY GREETING FANS OUTSIDE PRESS CONFERENCE VENUE THEN WALKING AWAY

18. WIDE OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM

19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR AND DIRECTOR, GEORGE CLOONEY, SAYING:

"I would like to avoid being in a tampon commercial 20 years after I'm dead. I would like that. I would like to avoid that."

20. WIDE OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM