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Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to curb a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) video-making tool, following threats of legal action from Disney and complaints from other entertainment giants.
In the last few days, videos made using the latest version of the app Seedance have proliferated online. Many have been lauded for their realism.
But the trend has also sparked alarm from several Hollywood studios that have accused the AI platform's makers of copyright infringement.
On Friday, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing it of supplying Seedance with a "pirated library" of the studio's copyrighted characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars.
Disney's lawyers accused ByteDance of committing a "virtual smash-and-grab" of their intellectual property, including superheroes from Marvel, Star Wars and various cartoons.
On Monday ByteDance told the BBC that the company "respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the 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.
ByteDance did not respond to questions asking for details on the safeguards it plans to implement.
Like other generative-AI tools, Seedance can create videos based on short text prompts.
Many of Seedance's clips are based on real actors and shows and some have gone viral since the launch of its latest 2.0 version on 12 February.
The BBC has found clips online said to have been generated by Seedance showing Star Wars characters Anakin Skywalker and Rey battling with their lightsabres, and Spider-Man fighting Captain America on the streets of New York.
The company has not disclosed what data it uses to train Seedance.
ByteDance had previously said the product had already paused the ability for users to upload images of real people.
The company also said it respects intellectual property rights and copyright protections, and takes any potential infringement seriously.
Disney's legal threat follows criticism from other organisations in Hollywood over the Seedance platform.
The Motion Picture Association, which represents major US studios like Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount and Netflix, has demanded that the tool "immediately cease its infringing activity".
Actors' union Sag-Aftra has also accused Seedance of "blatant infringement".
Meanwhile the Japanese government has launched an investigation into the Chinese firm over potential copyright violations, after AI-generated videos of popular Japanese anime characters showed up on online.
Other AI image‑generation tools have likewise been hit with legal action.
Last year, Disney and NBCUniversal sued AI image generator Midjourney, accusing the platform of generating "endless unauthorised copies" of the studios' copyrighted works. The case is ongoing.
Disney has also asked Google to restrict the generation of its characters on Google's AI platforms.
Source: BBC
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