US Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Peter Welch (D-VT) sent a letter to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo on Monday demanding the company "immediately shut down" Seedance 2.0, the AI video generator that sparked a copyright clash with Hollywood's biggest studios.

The bipartisan letter, first reported by CNBC, called Seedance 2.0 "the most glaring example of copyright infringement from a ByteDance product to date." Senators cited examples of the tool generating realistic videos featuring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and characters from Netflix's Stranger Things — all without authorization from rights holders.

How It Escalated

Seedance 2.0 went live on February 12, 2026, and quickly went viral on Chinese social media. A clip showing an AI-generated Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt drew millions of views. Behind the scenes, ByteDance had reportedly trained the model on licensed characters, including Disney properties.

Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter, and the Motion Picture Association — representing Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Universal — followed with legal threats. By March 14, ByteDance had quietly halted the global rollout, with Reuters reporting no new launch date was planned.

ByteDance's Response

A ByteDance spokesperson told CNBC the company "respects intellectual property rights" and is "taking steps to strengthen current safeguards." The statement stopped short of committing to a shutdown.

Why It Matters

The Seedance situation is now the sharpest example of an AI-copyright standoff between a major Chinese tech company and Western rights holders. It arrives as US regulators are already scrutinizing TikTok's parent company — and as Congress debates broader AI copyright legislation. The case could set a precedent for how AI video generators handle likeness rights and training data.