Hollywood cannot decide whether ByteDance's AI video generator, Seedance, is a threat to be stamped out or a tool too useful to abandon. According to The Decoder, the tool is dividing the industry along a very public fault line — and a very private one.
The public side turned hostile after a viral clip surfaced featuring AI-generated versions of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. The Decoder reports that the clip prompted the Motion Picture Association to issue its first-ever cease-and-desist against an AI company, a notable escalation from a trade group that represents the major studios.
But the reporting also points to a quieter reality behind the scenes. According to The Decoder, studios are using Seedance on what amounts to a "don't ask, don't tell" basis — publicly objecting to the technology while privately putting it to work.
That contradiction is the heart of the story. The same organizations pushing to rein in generative video tools appear to be tapping them anyway, exposing a gap between Hollywood's official stance on AI and its day-to-day practices.
Why it matters: as AI video tools grow capable enough to convincingly recreate the world's most famous faces, the industry's split response — condemn in public, adopt in private — signals just how unsettled the rules around AI, likeness, and creative work still are.