According to a report in The Information, ByteDance has paused plans to launch a new AI video model globally.
The Chinese company, best known as the parent company of TikTok (and now a minority shareholder in its U.S. spinoff), launched Seedance 2.0 in China in February. Short videos produced by the models, such as a clip of Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt, quickly went viral and drew heavy criticism from Hollywood.
One successful screenwriter declared that the video meant “perhaps the end of us,” but the studio soon sent a flurry of cease-and-desist letters to ByteDance, and Disney’s lawyers accused the company of “effectively usurping Disney’s IP.” In response, ByteDance pledged to introduce stronger protections for intellectual property.
According to The Information, the company had planned to make Seedance 2.0 available globally in mid-March, but those plans have been postponed as engineers and lawyers work to avoid further legal issues.
ByteDance did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
