Last week, an AI-generated video of fake Tom Cruise duking it out with fake Brad Pitt on a rooftop freaked the internet out. Now, the Chinese tech giant behind the AI tool says it’s going to take measures to improve copyright-related safeguards.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, ByteDance said it’s going to “strengthen safeguards” on Seedance 2.0.
On Friday, Disney sent ByteDance a cease-and-desist letter, accusing the Chinese company of “hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters.”
In the statement to Business Insider, a ByteDance spokesperson said the company “respects intellectual property rights” and that it has “heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0.”
“We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” the spokesperson said in comments first reported by the BBC.
The company did not provide further details on the safeguards it’s planning to introduce.
ByteDance, which is also the parent company behind TikTok, launched Seedance 2.0 in early February. Its ability to generate realistic, multi-shot video sequences has prompted pushback from Hollywood over concerns about AI’s impact on entertainment jobs.
Charles Rivkin, the chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, accused Seedance 2.0 of engaging in “unauthorized US copyrighted works on a massive scale.”
“By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs,” Rivkin said in a statement last week.
The AI-generated video depicting Pitt and Cruise fighting on a rooftop quickly went viral last week, with many online commenting on how realistic the clip is.
The company also generated buzz with AI videos of Marvel’s Wolverine fighting Thanos, and a lightsaber duel between Star Wars characters Anakin Skywalker and Rey. Both franchises are owned by Disney.
While Disney has warned ByteDance to stop using its intellectual property, it signed a three-year licensing deal with OpenAI in December, giving users of its video-generation tool Sora access to 200 Disney characters.
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