It feels like a cinematographer is behind it”: new Chinese AI video model that has shaken hollywood

A new artificial intelligence model developed by TikTok’s parent company, Byte dance, has caused a stir in Hollywood this week — not just because of what it can do, but because of what it could mean for the future of creative industries.

The model, called Sea Dance 2.0, can generate cinema-quality videos complete with sound effects and dialogue from just a few written prompts. In recent days, AI-generated clips featuring popular characters like Spider-Man and Deadpool have gone viral, drawing both fascination and concern.

Major studios including Disney and Paramount quickly accused Byte dance of violating copyright laws. However, the worries surrounding this technology go far beyond legal disputes.SeaDance was first introduced in June 2025 but received limited attention at the time. Eight months later, its upgraded version has dramatically shifted perceptions of AI-generated video.

John William Bloom from creative studio Video State says this is the first time he has stopped describing AI videos as “good for AI.” Instead, he says they now look indistinguishable from productions made by real studios.While Western AI video tools have improved in interpreting user prompts and producing impressive visuals, Bloom believes Sea Dance has successfully combined multiple elements into one seamless system.

Like Mid journey and OpenAI’s Sora, Sea Dance creates videos from text instructions. In some cases, it appears capable of delivering high-quality results from a single prompt. AI ethics researcher Margaret Mitchell says the model is particularly powerful because it integrates text, images, and audio into one cohesive output.An unusual benchmark has emerged to test the model’s capabilities: how convincingly it can recreate a viral clip of Will Smith eating spaghetti. Sea Dance has not only replicated the scene with striking realism but also produced viral clips of the actor fighting a spaghetti monster — scenes that resemble big-budget film productions.

Industry professionals say Sea Dance represents a major leap in video generation technology. David Kew, head of Singapore-based animation studio Tiny Island Productions, notes that the model’s complex action sequences look far more realistic than those of its competitors.feels like you’re working with a cinematographer or an action film director of photography,” he says.

Despite its technical achievements, Sea Dance faces serious copyright challenges — a growing issue in the AI era.Hollywood organizations have strongly objected to the use of copyrighted characters such as Spider-Man and Darth Vader. Disney and Paramount have issued cease-and-desist letters demanding that Byte dance stop using their intellectual property.

Japan has also reportedly launched investigations into potential copyright violations after anime-style character videos went viral.

Byte Dance says it is taking steps to strengthen existing safeguards. However, the issue is not limited to one Chinese company.In 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging their articles were used without permission to train AI models. Last year, Reddit filed legal action against Perplexity, claiming it scraped user posts unlawfully. Disney has also raised similar concerns about Google’s AI systems.

Mitchell argues that clear content labeling and building public trust in AI are more important than making increasingly realistic videos. She says developers must create systems that ensure proper licensing, compensation, and accountability for misuse.For example, Disney reportedly signed a $1 billion deal with OpenAI’s Sora to license characters from Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel.

Sea dance has once again drawn global attention to China’s rapid AI development.

Researcher Shanan Kohli from the University of Melbourne suggests Chinese models are now competing directly with the best available technologies. He questions what other advanced tools Chinese firms may be developing behind the scenes.Last year, another Chinese AI model, DeepSeek, shocked the tech world with a low-cost language model that quickly surpassed

While Sea Dance 2.0 dominated headlines, other major Chinese firms also launched new generative AI tools ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

China analyst Bill Bishop noted in his newsletter that the Spring Festival is increasingly becoming an “AI holiday,” as companies release new products during a time when millions of people are at home and ready to try new apps.

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