The Walt Disney Company sent a cease and desist letter to Character.AI last week, demanding that the AI chatbot developer stop using its copyrighted characters without authorization.The letter was first reported by Axios.The concern is not just about copyright infringement, though that's likely a large portion of Disney's problem. The company also references a recent report from ParentsTogether Action and Heat Initiative that found Character.AI chatbots engage in problematic behaviors with underage users. (If you haven't seen yesterday's video of Joseph Gordon-Levitt discussing Meta's inappropriate chatbots, you should check it out.)Character.AI is a platform divided into several chatbot sections, including ones for brainstorming, language practice, and other typical LLM use. But several chatbots have been trained on dialogue and information to make them "speak" like popular characters the user can interact with. A quick skim of the site will show options for KPop Demon Hunters and Resident Evil characters, for instance. Plenty of bots seem suggestive from the get-go."Character.ai's infringing chatbots are known, in some cases, to be sexually exploitive and otherwise harmful and dangerous to children, offending Disney's consumers and extraordinarily damaging Disney's reputation and goodwill," Disney's letter states.The company's demands were clear."Disney will not allow your company to hijack its characters, damage its brands, or infringe its copyrights and/or trademarks. Character.ai's conduct is egregious and must stop immediately."In response, Character.AI removed the infringing characters from the platform.A spokesperson for the site told Axios, "It's always up to rightsholders to decide how people may interact with their IP, and...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Wednesday, 1 October