San Diego Comic-Con under fire for allowing AI at 2026’s Art Show

UPDATE: This policy has now been changed and AI-generated art is now banned.

Comic Con International, the organization behind the storied San Diego Comic-Con, has come under criticism for allowing AI-generated pieces to be exhibited at this year’s Art Show. Their website states AI pieces can be displayed, but not sold at the auction, which will be held during this year’s convention from Thursday, July 23, to Sunday, July 26.

According to the official guidance from the show, here’s the rule:

Material produced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be placed in the show, but only as Not-for-Sale (NFS). It must be clearly marked as AI-produced, not simply listed as a print. If one of the parameters in its creation was something similar to “Done in the style of ,” that information must be added to the description. If there are questions, the Art Show Coordinator will be the sole judge of acceptability.

Unsurprisingly, comics industry professionals are less than impressed, and many have taken to social media to voice their frustration with the policy.

Artist Karla Ortiz responded, “Comic-Con should be a celebration of illustrators, comic artists, writers and so on. Elevating the actual craftsmen and women who make the works that fans love! Instead it opens the door to slop that can only exist due to the stolen work of those same creatives, to then displace creatives. Gross!” She implored fans to share their objections to the Art Show coordinator’s email address, artshow[at]comic-con[dot]org, or via their social media.

Other creatives who criticized the decision include Ron Marz (who simply called it “gross”), Evan Dorkin (who had stronger language for the situation), Derf Backderf, and Greg Pak, who has emailed the convention.

Tyler Crook commented, “I would never submit my work to an ‘art show’ that would display a.i. images next to mine. Comic-Con International should be profoundly embarrassed by the decision to do so.” Ethan Sacks weighed in, saying, “If enough writers and artists threaten to pull out over the inclusion of the theft machine, I’ll bet you Comic-Con will reverse course.”

San Diego Comic-Con’s apparent acceptance of AI-generated imagery stands in contrast to other organizations, like GalaxyCon, which has banned it from all of their conventions, or Dragon Con, who had the police escort a vendor off their premises for selling AI prints last year. A 2025 report from Forbes noted SDCC organizer Comic-Con International was an outlier in not having a “documented policy on AI art on the exhibit floor,” and noted in that piece that CCI “did not respond immediately to inquiries regarding its stance.”