Daijiworld Media Network - Beijing
Beijing, Feb 16: Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to tighten safeguards around its controversial AI video-making tool Seedance after facing legal threats from Disney and complaints from other major entertainment studios.
The latest version of the app, Seedance 2.0, launched on February 12, has seen a surge of hyper-realistic AI-generated videos circulating online. While many users praised the tool’s realism, several Hollywood studios have accused ByteDance of copyright infringement.
On Friday, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter alleging that Seedance was trained using a “pirated library” of copyrighted characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars. Disney’s lawyers described the alleged action as a “virtual smash-and-grab” of its intellectual property, citing unauthorised use of superheroes and other iconic characters.
In a statement to the BBC on Monday, ByteDance said it “respects intellectual property rights” and has taken note of concerns regarding Seedance 2.0. “We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” the company said.
However, ByteDance did not provide details on what additional measures it plans to implement. The company has also not disclosed what data was used to train the AI model.
Like other generative AI tools, Seedance creates short videos based on text prompts. Several viral clips online, reportedly generated using the platform, depict well-known characters such as Anakin Skywalker and Rey from Star Wars in lightsaber duels, and Spider-Man battling Captain America on the streets of New York.
ByteDance previously said the platform had paused the feature allowing users to upload images of real people and reiterated that it takes potential copyright violations seriously.
The controversy adds to growing tensions between AI developers and the entertainment industry over the use of copyrighted material in training generative AI systems.