Hollywood studios take aim at 'ultra-realistic' AI video tool

Major US studios have demanded that a powerful new AI video tool, launched by TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance, must "immediately cease" infringing copyright with its clips based on existing films and shows.

Many of the clips are based on real actors, TV shows and films, and the Motion Picture Association told the BBC: "In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorised use of US copyrighted works on a massive scale."

The MPA represents the major US studios - Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros Discovery.

According to ByteDance, the product has already suspended the ability for people to upload images of real people, and it respects intellectual property rights and copyright protections, and takes any potential infringement seriously.

The content referenced was created as part of a limited pre-launch testing phase, it said.

The AI tool can quickly make highly realistic clips from a short, simple text prompt, such as a fist fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, Will Smith battling a red-eyed spaghetti monster or even Friends characters reimagined as otters.

The MPA's chairman and CEO, Charles Rivkin, said: "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.

"ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity."

According to ByteDance, steps are being taken to further address risks, and it will implement robust policies, monitoring mechanisms and processes to ensure compliance with local regulations.

The clips have been flooding social media, and users have also been posting scenes based on shows and films like The Lord of the Rings, Seinfeld, Avengers and Breaking Bad.

ByteDance has billed its new AI tool as delivering "an ultra-realistic immersive experience".

It immediately set alarm bells ringing in Hollywood and beyond, with Deadpool writer Rhett Reese warning: "I hate to say it. It's likely over for us."

A review by US magazine Forbes noted that Seedance 2.0 "offers a level of creative control that mimics a human director" and "enables users to create high-end outputs without needing complicated production tools".

While many users are likely to be delighted to have its powers at their fingertips, Reese, who co-wrote and executive produced the Deadpool films among others, said he was "terrified" by the implications.

"So many people I love are facing the loss of careers they love. I myself am at risk," he wrote.

"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."

Heather Anne Campbell, who has written for Saturday Night Live and Rick & Morty, said the results were akin to fan fiction, and that people would still be required to come up with original ideas.

"All of these people who have access to the latest AI visualisation engines, like Seedance - they're being given total control to create anything they can imagine - and they're turning out fanfiction," she wrote. "'Breaking bad new scene' or 'goku in live action' etc.

"Seems like it's challenging to make something new even when you have the infinite budget to make lifelike tv, film, or animation. Almost like the original ideas are the hardest part."