TheWrap recently spoke with Ray Seilie about the entertainment industry’s response to AI video generation tool Seedance 2.0, from ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok.
In the days following the release of Seedance 2.0, an AI-generated video of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise fighting circulated on X, ultimately gaining 1.7 million views on the platform. This immediately raised concerns in Hollywood over the lack of safeguards for copyright and IP infringement.
“This feels reminiscent of Sora,” Ray shares with TheWrap, describing how, when OpenAI launched Sora 2 in September 2025, the opt-out model was quickly switched to an opt-in model after extreme backlash.
At that time, OpenAI, the maker of Sora 2, was quickly told by major players in entertainment to add safeguards to the model. However, ByteDance has met much more hostility from Hollywood, potentially because it lacks any preexisting relationship with major Hollywood companies and studios.
While a ByteDance spokesperson issued a statement sharing that they will tighten safeguards, without naming specifics, Ray continues to note in the piece that this might have been China showcasing its technical expertise in allowing the full use of the technology before tightening up controls.
