Two US senators have called for the immediate shutdown of Seedance, a new AI video generation app from ByteDance, the company behind TikTok. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent a letter to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo, describing the app as “the most glaring example of copyright infringement from a ByteDance product to date”.
The lawmakers cited examples of the app generating photo-realistic videos of actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a non-existent film, as well as scenes featuring Marvel’s Thanos fighting DC’s Superman. Other examples included a reimagined finale of Stranger Things and a video of Will Smith fighting a spaghetti monster.
“Responsible global companies follow the law and respect core economic rights, including intellectual property and personal likeness protections,” the senators wrote. ByteDance responded in a statement, saying it respects intellectual property rights and is strengthening safeguards to prevent unauthorised use of copyrighted material and likenesses.
The Motion Picture Association has also sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance over the technology. According to The Information, ByteDance has temporarily paused the global release of Seedance 2.0. This is not the first regulatory issue for ByteDance; earlier this year, it was forced to sell majority control of TikTok to US investors or face a ban.
The controversy comes amid broader debates over AI regulation. In December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing regulatory efforts, arguing that US AI companies must innovate without cumbersome regulation. The order called for protecting children and copyrights while preventing a patchwork of state laws.
