ByteDance has reportedly halted the global rollout of its new AI video-generation model, Seedance 2.0, following copyright disputes with major Hollywood studios and streaming platforms.
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According to a report by The Information, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok paused the launch after legal concerns were raised about potential intellectual property violations.
The development comes after The Walt Disney Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that the AI system used copyrighted characters from franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel without authorization to train the model.
The dispute intensified after AI-generated videos went viral in China, including a clip depicting Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fictional fight scene created by the model.
Seedance 2.0, officially unveiled by ByteDance in February, is designed for professional use in filmmaking, advertising and e-commerce. The company highlighted the system’s ability to process text, images, audio and video simultaneously, helping creators produce cinematic content at lower costs.
The model has attracted attention in the global AI industry, with comparisons drawn to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which has developed systems competing with technologies from OpenAI and Anthropic. Some technology leaders, including Elon Musk, have praised the model’s ability to generate complex storylines from minimal prompts.
ByteDance had initially planned to release Seedance 2.0 worldwide in mid-March, but those plans have now been suspended as the company reviews potential legal risks.
According to the report, ByteDance’s legal team is working to resolve intellectual property concerns while engineers are introducing safeguards to prevent the AI system from generating copyrighted material without authorization.
