The video of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt humping each other has been going viral online over the past week. But it's just one example of what can be achieved with a new Chinese AI model. Other users have made similar videos with characters from several popular Netflix series.
“Netflix will not allow ByteDance to turn our valuable content into a free public domain,” the streaming giant wrote in a sharply worded statement.
Seedance 2.0 is currently only available to Chinese users of ByteDance's CapCut app. And the clips generated are a maximum of 15 seconds long.
“Millions of jobs”
But the fact that the clips look so lifelike and can be generated so easily - and that copyrighted material is used in the AI model - has prompted Hollywood to join the fray. Many in the film industry are also concerned that AI technology has become so good so quickly.
That includes Rhett Reese, the screenwriter behind the action film "Deadpool".
“I hate to say it, but it's probably over for us,” he writes on X.
Several film companies, including Disney, Paramount and Skydance, are also demanding that Seedance 2.0 be stopped.
"ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright laws that protect the rights of creators and underpin millions of American jobs," the film industry association MPA wrote in a statement.
Taking action
Following the criticism, ByteDance has introduced certain restrictions on the app and states that they respect copyright.
"We are taking steps to strengthen current procedures as we work to prevent unauthorized use of copyrighted material," the company wrote in a statement, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hollywood media giants have long feared that AI technology will disrupt the industry, outcompeting film and television studios with cheaper AI-generated content. It was one of the stumbling blocks in the 2023 writers and actors' strike.
But one company has broken with the industry's hard line against AI companies. In December, news broke that Disney and AI company OpenAI had reached an agreement. Disney will allow users of OpenAI's image service Sora to generate short videos featuring more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
But OpenAI is not paying anything for the deal. Instead, Disney is initially investing $1 billion in OpenAI.
