The concept of artificial intelligence can be scary. In a time when deepfakes have made it difficult to distinguish between fiction and defamation, LeBron James is setting a clear line. A crazy AI movie that claims to depict LeBron James punching the likes of Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan is going viral. It also looks very realistic.Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Bronny James, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis are on the list of people LeBron hit in this blatantly fake movie. But ironically, this wasn’t the first time James’ AI video had gone viral.
No, LeBron James didn’t punch Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, etc. NBA giant
An AI-generated image of LeBron twerking marked the end of the video. The caption of the video read:“Open your neighbor’s Wi-Fi, swipe your finger, watch the most random, pointless video you’ve ever seen, and close your neighbor’s Wi-Fi.”Share this X’s post was viewed by millions of people. It’s hard to imagine that someone could easily create footage like this, but it can be done. It also challenges many common beliefs that seeing is believing.However, this is not real. However, this is not the first time this type of event has occurred. NBA legends are at the center of a burgeoning legal battle against the misuse of artificial intelligence. James and his legal team sent a cease-and-desist letter to Flickup, the company that developed Interlink AI, after disturbing AI-generated films showing James’ likeness went viral, including one showing James pregnant.Interlink AI, a Discord-hosted video generation application that allows users to create incredibly lifelike movies of celebrities without their permission, is at the center of this dispute. Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and others unintentionally became avatars in a virtual playground that quickly descended into the grotesque.According to 404 Media, an AI-generated video of Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking a dummy Steph Curry six times in prison has garnered more than 6.2 million views on Instagram while a faceless AI LeBron James watches in the background. Other pictures included James reaching out to Callie while cradling her pregnant stomach, kneeling with his tongue sticking out, and a homeless person.
LeBron James has previously taken legal action against disturbing AI videos attempting to defame him.
FlickUp founder Jason Stacks said on his Instagram Reels.“This is a letter from one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Two months ago, I launched YouTube AI videos. It was a fun idea to help creators make more money. But then people started noticing…like this guy, yes, LeBron James. And he wasn’t happy because I got a cease and desist order from his team.”Stacks said he was caught off guard by the attention and removed all Realistic users from the platform within 30 minutes of receiving a legal warning from Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sachs. He told 404 Media:“We immediately removed the model and have since updated our approach to likeness and celebrity policies. This is the real full story on our side.”Now, in response to this, the creator of the AI-generated video featuring James’ likeness is said to have received a cease-and-desist letter from his legal team. According to 404 Media, James’ lawyers filed a cease-and-desist letter against the developer of Interlink AI, a Discord community and AI program that allows users to create movies of NBA players.Jason Stacks, founder of Flickup, an AI generation platform that owns Interlink, said James’ lawyer sent him a letter “a few weeks ago.” He further said:“Within 30 minutes of receiving the cease and desist order, we made the decision to remove all real people from Interlink AI’s software,” Stacks told 404 Media, confirming the letter came from the law firm Grubman, Shire, Meiselas & Sachs. “Generative AI is the ‘wild west’ when it comes to copyright and intellectual property, but we are committed to being on the right side of that change…”Despite this, James has not said anything about the recent AI video so far.
