The creator of an AI image generation tool that has created deepfake videos of LeBron James, Steph Curry, and others say they received a cease-and-desist letter from James.
404 Media reported last Thursday that this would be one of the first times a popular celebrity has threatened legal action against an AI company over the creation of nonconsensual AI imagery of their likeness.
The AI-generated videos in question come from Interlink AI, a tool that runs on the AI generation platform FlickUp. Interlink’s Discord community includes a channel that provides instructions for creating fake videos of the Lakers star. The tool’s creators have also uploaded AI models specifically designed to mimic James and other NBA stars, including Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić.
Jason Koebler at 404 Media had previously reported on the rise in ‘Brainrot’ AI on Instagram and how that content can rack up millions in views. Some of the videos Koebler encountered included one where an AI-generated James watched as an AI-generated Diddy sexually assaulted Steph Curry in prison, one where James was imagined as a homeless person offering to do sexual acts for food, and one of James pregnant.
Interlink AI Discord community moderators reportedly told members they were removing all “realistic people models” from the platform in late June in response to “legal issues” involving a “highly valued basketball player.”
“This change comes after we ran into legal issues involving a highly valued basketball player, and to avoid any further complications, we’ve chosen to take a proactive approach and fully remove all realistic likenesses from the site,” the mods wrote on Discord. “We know this may be disappointing for some of you who were enjoying the realism in your content, but this move protects the future of the platform and allows us to focus on building something even bigger.”
404 Media would later confirm that the player was James.
“A couple weeks ago, we received a cease and desist letter from LeBron James’ attorney about one of our creators, Interlink AI,” Jason Stacks, the founder of FlickUp, told 404 Media. “In collaboration with Interlink, we had been promoting an AI model trained on LeBron James and a few other iconic basketball players. Within 30 minutes of receiving the cease and desist, we made the decision to remove all realistic people from Interlink AI’s software. Generative AI is the ‘wild west’ when it comes to copyright & IP, but we’re committed to being on the right side of that change.
“The letter came from Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks on behalf of LeBron James, and we took it seriously. We removed the models immediately and have since updated our approach to likeness and public figure policies. That’s really the full story on our end.”
Stacks posted an Instagram Reel about the cease-and-desist letter, showing it in brief flashes. In one frame, “Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks” is visible in the top corner of one of the pages.
“I’m so fucked. This is a letter from one of the biggest NBA players of all time,” Stacks says in the video. “Two months ago, I launched the YouTube of AI video. It was a fun idea to help creators make some more money. But then people started noticing. Like, really noticing. Like this guy, yeah, the LeBron James. And he wasn’t happy, because I got this cease-and-desist from his team.”
404 also notes that at least three Instagram accounts that had amassed millions of views with the nonconsensual AI videos of James had been deleted. Meta refused to comment when asked if they’d also received cease-and-desist letters.
A collection of United States senators and representatives is currently attempting to pass the NO FAKES ACT, which would grant individuals intellectual property rights over their image and speech, among other protective provisions. However, the potential for First Amendment defenses of the right to parody will undoubtedly be in play, regardless of the outcome. In other words, this is an issue we’re just beginning to figure out.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.