SAG-AFTRA on Friday joined MPA and other industry voices in condemning ByteDance and its new Seedance 2.0 model, saying the video generator “ignores fundamental principles of law, ethics, industry standards, and consent.”
“SAG-AFTRA stands with the studio in condemning the blatant copyright infringement enabled by ByteDance’s new AI video model Seedance 2.0,” an actors union spokesperson said in a statement. “Violations include the unauthorized use of members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undermines the ability of human talent to earn a living. Seadance 2.0 ignores the fundamental principles of law, ethics, industry standards, and consent. Responsible AI development requires accountability, and that is absent here.”
A generative AI model released by TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance this week sparked a wave of industry opposition as videos violating the likenesses of A-list Hollywood stars such as “The Lord of the Rings” and Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise began appearing on the service and making the rounds on social media.
The Motion Picture Association of America on Thursday slammed SeaDance 2.0 over the AI-generated fight scene between Pitt and Cruise, accusing the company of “ignoring” copyright law and calling on it to “cease its infringing activities.”
“In a single day, Chinese AI service Seadance 2.0 was involved in massive misappropriation of U.S. copyrighted material,” MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin said in a statement. “By launching a service that operates without meaningful protections against copyright infringement, ByteDance is ignoring established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and supports millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activities.”
The Human Artistry Campaign, an AI regulation advocacy group, said in a separate statement on Friday that the platform’s launch is “an attack on all creators around the world.”
“Stealing the work of human creators to replace it with AI-generated slop is destructive to our culture. Stealing is not innovation,” the statement reads. “These unauthorized deepfakes and actor voice clones violate the most basic aspects of personal autonomy and should be deeply concerning to everyone. Authorities must use every legal tool at their disposal to stop this grand theft.”
The alarm regarding the launch of Seedance 2.0 comes amid contract renewal negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), as the current contract expires at the end of June. Protections and updated regulations regarding AI in Hollywood remain a key priority for union leadership.
