Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal Pictures have sued a Chinese artificial intelligence image and video generator for copyright infringement, opening another front in a high-stakes battle involving the use of movies and TV shows owned by major studios to teach AI systems.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in California federal court, accuses MiniMax of building its business by plundering the studios’ intellectual property. Its service, Hailuo AI, allows users to generate content of iconic copyrighted characters.
The studios characterize MiniMax’s alleged infringement as an existential threat. Given the rapid advancement of AI technology, it’s “only a matter of time until Hailuo AI can generate unauthorized, infringing videos” that are “substantially longer, and even eventually the same duration as a movie or television program,” the lawsuit…
