ByteDance promises safeguards for Seedance AI tool, AMC Theatres pulls AI short film ‘Thanksgiving Day’ after online backlash, Streaming viewers want AI assistance but not AI-generated content
At a screening of ElevenLabs’ Chroma Awards-winning AI short films, entries struggled under cinema lights, exposing immature technology and artificial narratives despite bold creative efforts. The limitations were clear: too crude for cinema beyond smartphone fodder. Days later, ByteDance unveiled Seedance 2.0 online, winning instant praise from enthusiasts while prompting panic and legal threats from Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery, Disney, and Paramount over its uncanny IP recreation.
Hollywood studios across the industry are routinely understating their reliance on artificial intelligence, from post-production enhancements to screenwriting aids. Last year’s Oscar winner, “The Brutalist,” stirred controversy after admitting AI-enhanced actors’ accents. This year, such disclosures have gone quiet, even from the Academy, which maintains a de facto “don’t ask, don’t tell” stance, with every best picture nominee likely touched by AI in production. Artists remain fiercely resistant following the 2023 strikes, screenwriters appear to embrace chatbots, while viral AI demos like the faked Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt fight have circled overblown narratives of Hollywood’s demise.
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ByteDance promises safeguards for Seedance AI tool
Chinese tech giant ByteDance has moved to restrict its controversial Seedance AI video tool after protests from major US studios and streamers. The Motion Picture Association demanded an immediate halt to Seedance 2.0’s use of copyrighted clips from existing films and shows, while Disney accused it of relying on a pirated library of Marvel and Star Wars characters. Launched on 12 February, the text-to-video service produced viral fakes like a realistic fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, prompting ByteDance to strengthen safeguards against unauthorized IP and likeness use. The action follows Disney’s recent $1bn investment in OpenAI’s Sora, which permits videos featuring its characters.
UK streaming viewers want AI assistance but not AI-generated content
Streaming platforms increasingly rely on artificial intelligence, from recommendation algorithms and auto-generated subtitles to machine-learning edited trailers. Now production studios are testing AI for scripts, voices, and digital actors. But fresh YouGov research reveals a divide in UK attitudes.
More than half of UK adults (55%) know streaming services use AI for content recommendations, yet many remain unaware of the technology shaping their viewing habits on platforms like Netflix and BBC iPlayer, where personalization is key. Nearly half (46%) welcome tailored suggestions, but only 6% would pay extra, with 87% seeing it as standard, meaning platforms in a cost-conscious market must position AI personalization as an expected feature rather than a revenue driver.
UK viewers accept AI for behind-the-scenes tasks like subtitling and search tools, but resistance grows markedly when it enters creative areas such as generating actors or core programme elements, revealing unease at machines replacing human storytellers. Just 26% would knowingly watch AI-created content (versus 53% who would not), with concerns led by authenticity (67%), misleading output (62%), quality concerns (51%), job losses (62%), and ethics (50%); overwhelmingly, 91% demand mandatory labelling of AI-generated material.
Genies partners with Japan’s King Records to create AI manga companions
AI avatar company Genies has agreed a strategic partnership with King Records, the anime and music division of Japan’s largest publisher Kodansha, to turn manga intellectual property into interactive AI companions. The collaboration kicks off with “Hypnosis Mic — Division Rap Battle,” the label’s multimedia franchise spanning rap battles, character-driven stories, music, anime, manga, and live events. All 21 core characters will be reimagined as AI versions, offering fans more immersive and personalized interactions beyond just watching or listening.
AMC Theatres pulls AI short film ‘Thanksgiving Day’ after online backlash
AMC Theatres has withdrawn from plans to screen the AI-generated short “Thanksgiving Day,” winner of the inaugural Frame Forward AI Animated Film Festival contest, which promised a two-week nationwide cinema run. The decision follows backlash after organizers announced the 20-minute film would play before features at chains including AMC, Classic Cinemas, and TCL Chinese Theatres through distribution partner Screenvision Media. Exhibitors appear to have had no say in the original contest terms.
Young audiences reshape film and streaming strategies
At the European Film Market during Berlinale 2026, industry leaders debated how fleeting attention spans, social media dominance, and artificial intelligence are upending film marketing strategies for both European independents and US distributors. The panel “Marketing That Works: Turning Change Into a New Advantage” heard from global executives stressing adaptation to younger viewers’ multi-platform habits and demands for interactive content.
Industry experts at the European Film Market urged global distributors to adapt to stark market differences, with US mass marketing dwarfing Europe’s lean campaigns that prioritize niche targeting and direct relationships through first-party data from platforms. Artificial intelligence offers optimization for targeting and asset creation alongside audience insights, though leaders stressed creative storytelling must stay human-led to preserve curation and narrative voice, recommending AI-readable yet visually striking content. Theatrical strategies hinge on peer connection over cinema itself for younger viewers, as seen in interactive communal events like K-Pop Demon Hunters that build fandom and repeat visits. Audience advocacy via ticket-buyer sharing on WhatsApp, Discord, or email lists drives conversions, while data fuels research and retargeting; all reinforcing theatrical-first windows to teach cinema habits and sustain independents.
Amazon rolls out AI tech for entertainment giants’ TikTok-style videos
Amazon Web Services has unveiled AI-powered technology designed to help TV networks and Hollywood studios adapt content for vertical video platforms. The new AWS Elemental Inference service converts live and on-demand programming into phone-friendly formats in real time, with minimal 6-to-10-second delays for sports, news, and other broadcasts. Fox Sports and NBCUniversal have already signed up to use the tool, which aims to streamline posting on social media giants like TikTok and Instagram alongside broadcasters’ own streaming apps.
Chinese filmmakers use AI virtual tech for realism and cost-cutting
In Deqing, east China’s Zhejiang province, filmmakers have shot a Hong Kong football drama on the world’s largest single-structure LED screen at an AI virtual production studio. The 50-meter curved display recreates Kai Tak Sports Park’s stadium in real time, with tens of thousands of digital fans cheering goals to mimic the live atmosphere, while Versatile Media’s tools combine physical and virtual elements for instant iconic scenes. Since opening in July 2025, the facility has hosted over 30 projects, signed nearly 10 companies for 2026, and plans 89 AI short dramas, as period sets now reuse digital assets to cut months of build time. Similar advances include Yangzhou’s water studio simulating 200+ wave types up to 3m high with robot assistance, and Chongqing’s mouse-click scene swaps boosting efficiency 55% and slashing set costs 90%, marking a sweeping AI shift in Chinese cinema.
Film industry shows mixed fortunes after pandemic recovery
After the pandemic and strikes, 2025 brought equal measures of optimism and concern for the film industry, according to Luminate Intelligence’s State of Film Industry 2026 report. The analysis draws on extensive market data, highlighting animated hits like Zootopia 2 surpassing Inside Out 2 as the West’s top animated film, Warner Bros’ recovery with IP and original successes, and Netflix’s record viewership from KPop Demon Hunters and Happy Gilmore 2. Yet challenges persist as Netflix moves to acquire Warner Bros, a deal now contested by Paramount after its own loss to Skydance, while domestic box office revenue stagnated at just over $9bn, barely up from $8.8bn in 2024 despite stabilized production. Animated and select originals like Sinners and Weapons shone, but streaming-era audience pickiness hampers theaters, with full Warner Bros releases and Netflix’s IMAX Narnia test unlikely to revive pre-pandemic highs anytime soon.
