The Chinese AI app sending Hollywood into a panic

"Created by tech giant ByteDance, Seedance 2.0 can generate cinema-quality video, complete with sound effects and dialogue, from just a few written prompts. Many of the clips said to have been made using Seedance, and featuring popular characters like Spider-Man and Deadpool, went viral. Major studios like Disney and Paramount quickly accused ByteDance of copyright infringement but concerns about the technology run deeper than legal issues."

"Seedance was launched to little fanfare in June 2025 but it is the second version that came eight months later that has caused a major stir. "For the first time, I'm not thinking that this looks good for AI. Instead, I'm thinking that this looks straight out of a real production pipeline," says Jan-Willem Blom from creative studio Videostate. Western AI video models have made progress in processing user instructions to make stunning images, he adds, but Seedance seems to have tied everything together."

"Seedance's impact is being measured by an unlikely benchmark: how well it generates a clip of Will Smith eating spaghetti. Not only can Seedance create a remarkably life-like version of the star tucking into a plate of pasta, it has also spawned viral videos of Smith battling a spaghetti monster - and it looks and feels like a big-budget movie."

Seedance 2.0, developed by ByteDance, can generate cinema-quality video with synchronized sound effects and dialogue from brief written prompts. Viral clips purportedly made with Seedance feature popular characters such as Spider-Man, Deadpool and a lifelike Will Smith eating spaghetti, and include surreal scenes like Smith battling a spaghetti monster that resemble big-budget productions. Major studios including Disney and Paramount have accused ByteDance of copyright infringement. Experts note the system integrates text, visuals and audio into a single pipeline, improving on earlier Western models and producing high-quality output from minimal prompts. The technology raises legal and wider industry concerns about creative work and production workflows.

Read at www.bbc.com