Have you seen that AI-generated video of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise beating the hell out of each other, which looks a tad too real? Well, major film studios in the United States have come out against the platform where those videos are made, Seedance 2.0, which is owned by TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance.
"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,” Motion Pictures Association chairman Charles Rivkin said in a statement. "ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity."
The MPA — which represents major studios Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Paramount, Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, and Amazon MGM Studios — also told the BBC, "In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorized use of US copyrighted works on a massive scale."
I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us. https://t.co/248PmWnEgr
According to Forbes, the Seedance 2.0 platform "offers a level of creative control that mimics a human director" and "enables users to create high-end outputs without needing complicated production tools." ByteDance itself has touted that the program can craft "an ultra-realistic immersive experience."
Naturally, seeing something like this go viral hasn’t exactly been encouraging for folks in the industry. "I hate to say it. It's likely over for us," Deadpool writer Rhett Reese tweeted in response to the video. He later explained his stance further, getting to the heart of why so many creatives are as "terrified" as he is about these major pushes toward AI in art.
"So many people I love are facing the loss of careers they love. I myself am at risk," he added in a separate tweet two days later. "When I wrote 'It's over,' I didn't mean it to sound cavalier or flippant. I was blown away by the Pitt v Cruise video because it is so professional. That's exactly why I'm scared. My glass half empty view is that Hollywood is about to be revolutionized/decimated. If you truly think the Pitt v Cruise video is unimpressive slop, you've got nothing to worry about. But I'm shook."
That said, ByteDance claims to have already taken action to stave off copyright infringement. They claim to have "already suspended the ability for people to upload images of real people," according to the BBC, and will "respect intellectual property rights and copyright protections." Regarding the specific Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fight video, the company also claims that the "the content referenced was created as part of a limited pre-launch testing phase."
"Steps are being taken to further address risks," ByteDance concluded, saying that it planned to "implement robust policies, monitoring mechanisms and processes to ensure compliance with local regulations."
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
