SAG-AFTRA Condemns ‘Unacceptable’ Seedance 2.0 AI Videos: ‘Disregards Law, Ethics’

SAG-AFTRA joined the MPA and other industry voices on Friday to condemn ByteDance and its new Seedance 2.0 model, saying the video generator “disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent.”

“SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement enabled by ByteDance’s new A.I. video model Seedance 2.0,” a spokesperson for the actors’ union said in a statement. “The infringement includes the unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood. Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. Responsible A.I. development demands responsibility, and that is nonexistent here.”

The generative AI model released this week by ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, has triggered a wave of industry dissent as videos infringing on “The Lord of the Rings” and the likenesses of A-list Hollywood stars like Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise began populating the service and made the rounds on social media.

The Motion Picture Association slammed Seedance 2.0 on Thursday in response to an AI-generated fight scene between Pitt and Cruise, accusing the company of “disregarding” copyright laws and calling on them to “cease its infringing activity.”

“In a single day, the Chinese AI service Seedance 2.0 has engaged in unauthorized use of U.S. copyrighted works on a massive scale,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in a statement. “By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity.”

An in a separate statement Friday, the AI-regulation advocacy org Human Artistry Campaign called the platform’s launch “an attack on every creator around the world.”

“Stealing human creators’ work in an attempt to replace them with AI-generated slop is destructive to our culture: stealing isn’t innovation,” the statement read. “These unauthorized deepfakes and voice clones of actors violate the most basic aspects of personal autonomy and should be deeply concerning to everyone. Authorities should use every legal tool at their disposal to stop this wholesale theft.”

Alarm around the launch of Seedance 2.0 came amid SAG-AFTRA’s renewed contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), as the current contract is set to expire at the end of June. Protections and modern regulations around AI in Hollywood continue to be major priorities for union leadership.

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