Google takes down AI-generated videos of Disney characters
What's the story
In a recent development, Google has taken down several artificial intelligence (AI)-generated videos featuring Disney characters. This move comes after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to the tech giant on Wednesday. The letter highlighted YouTube links to these videos and demanded their immediate removal, reported Variety. Characters from popular franchises such as Mickey Mouse, Deadpool, Star Wars, and The Simpsons were featured in these videos.
Details
Disney's demand to Google included character licensing
Disney's cease-and-desist letter also included a comprehensive list of characters that it wants removed from YouTube and YouTube Shorts. The list includes characters from Frozen, Moana, Toy Story, Deadpool, Iron Man, Lilo & Stitch, and Winnie the Pooh. Interestingly, this legal action came just before Disney announced a deal with OpenAI to license 200 characters for use in its AI tool Sora.
Additional demands
Disney's request for safeguards and changes in Google's AI tools
Apart from the removal of specific videos, Disney also asked Google to implement safeguards that would prevent its AI tools from generating characters owned by Disney. The company also requested Google to stop using Disney's characters as training data for its AI models. Google responded that it would continue discussions with Disney and noted its use of publicly available web data for AI. Interestingly, despite months of talks with Disney, Google made no major policy changes before the legal action.