Senators Demand ByteDance Shut Down Seedance 2.0 Over Copyright Infringement

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Peter Welch of Vermont have demanded that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, immediately shut down its new artificial intelligence application, Seedance 2.0, citing widespread copyright infringement in user-generated videos. The bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter on February 13 to ByteDance Chief Executive Liang Rubo, warning that the app poses a direct threat to American intellectual property protections and the livelihoods of creators.

Launched on February 12, Seedance 2.0 allows users to produce realistic videos from text prompts, featuring real individuals and licensed characters without authorization. Within 24 hours of its release, the app generated viral content that alarmed the creative industry. Examples included a simulated fight between actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fictional film, a battle on Mars between Marvel's Thanos and DC's Superman, and an alternate ending to the Netflix series Stranger Things. One user recreated a high-cost scene from the movie F1 for just nine cents, highlighting the app's potential for low-cost replication of professional work. The senators described these outputs as...