MPA urges ByteDance to control new AI model behind Tom Cruise vs Brad Pitt deepfake

Studios are urging the Chinese company behind TikTok, ByteDance, to stop using copyrighted content in its new AI model, which has gained attention for a deepfake featuring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.

Charles Rivkin, the chairman and CEO of the MPA, stated, “In only one day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has used US copyrighted materials on a massive scale without authorisation. 

By launching a service with no effective measures to prevent copyright infringement, ByteDance is ignoring established copyright laws that protect creators and support millions of American jobs. ByteDance must immediately stop this infringing activity.”

According to a report, users of Seedance 2.0 are prompting this Chinese AI tool to produce videos that seem to cleverly replicate copyrighted content from studios like Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount. 

Besides the Cruise vs. Pitt matchup, the model has created remixes of Avengers: Endgame and a scene from Friends where otters play the roles of Rachel and Joey.

Last month, TikTok’s US operations formed a separate joint venture after Congress enacted legislation mandating ByteDance divestiture.

In October, studios raised concerns after OpenAI launched Sora 2, a service that enabled users to create content featuring copyrighted characters. OpenAI subsequently imposed new restrictions on this service.