China’s ByteDance is delaying the global rollout of its Seedance 2.0 video-generating AI model, according to a report from The Information. 

When it debuted in China in February, Seedance 2.0 caused a stir, as high-quality AI-generated videos made with the new model flooded social media, featuring existing actors and familiar intellectual property, including Tom Cruise and Star Wars. Unlike typical AI slop — or even advanced video from other AI-generation models — some of the Seedance-generated videos posted looked photorealistic enough to be mistaken for footage from big-budget Hollywood films or TV shows.

The model was expected to be rolled out to other countries by mid-March, but according to the report, ByteDance is working on ways to address legal and copyright issues that would arise in countries outside China.

Hollywood studios and unions did not react kindly to the videos that surfaced online in February.

The Motion Picture Association demanded that ByteDance “immediately cease its infringing activity,” referring to copyrighted works that appear to be used in training the model. 

Labor union SAG-AFTRA, representing Hollywood performers, said it also condemned the Seedance model, pointing to the danger that the AI model could pose to actors’ careers in a statement. The union noted: “Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent.” 

Representatives for ByteDance and SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What’s different about Seedance 2.0

Like many other industries, the entertainment world is being upended by AI technologies, with concerns that tools will put human creatives out of work. 

As AI-generated video content, animation, screenwriting and other forms evolve rapidly, popular photo and video generators are getting heat for propagating deepfakes and relying on copyrighted content. Many would have trouble spotting an AI-generated actress as fake, and viewers could easily confuse some AI-generated cinema with Marvel movies or other full-blown Hollywood productions.

While other AI-generators tools such as OpenAI’s Sora or Google’s Veo can quickly make videos good enough for casual social media use, Seedance 2.0 appears to be able to bypass some of the usual tells of AI video — text appears clear and not garbled, faces look convincingly human and there aren’t extra fingers or other strange AI hallucinations you might find in other AI video models. One viral example of this was “Will Smith Eating Spaghetti,” in which Seedance 2.0 created a video that convincingly depicted the actor eating a plate of pasta. 

The degree of realism that makes footage practically indistinguishable from traditionally produced film and video is a prime reason why movie and TV studios have cause for concern.