A new AI video generator has created content that appears to feature the logos of three British public service broadcasters, despite those organisations having no relationship with the tool or its parent company.
AI Media News was alerted to the issue by Michael Wilkinson, managing director of Marvellous Machines, a company which makes technology for TV game shows
His business has been experimenting with Hailuo.ai, a new product created by Singapore-based Minimax. Without mentioning any of three broadcasters in the prompts, Hailuo generated the following three videos, which feature the logos of ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 in the top left corner.
Marvellous Machines created this video with the prompt, “British policeman dancing like Elvis on a big stage, surrounded by adoring fans, throwing flowers.”
This video was generated with the prompt, “British Policeman dancing just like Elvis is performing on a large music stage to thousands of fans.”
And finally, this video was made with the prompt, “A rolling emerald hill rises gently against a pearly sky. Morning mist clings to its base, slowly dissipating as golden sunlight breaks through scattered clouds. Long grass ripples in waves across the hillside, dotted with hardy sheep grazing between weathered stone walls. Ancient hawthorn trees, gnarled and solitary, stand as guardians along the hill’s spine. The breeze carries wisps of fresh rain, making the wet grass sparkle. In the distance, patches of heather add touches of purple to the verdant landscape, while the shadows of clouds drift slowly across the hill’s face.”
AI Media News understands that ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 do not have a relationship with Hailuo.ai or Minimax, and have not given permission for their content to be used for training.
An ITV spokesperson told AI Media News: “We take the protection of our IP very seriously and are investigating this, as we do not allow any third party to use our content without authorisation.”
A Channel 5 spokesperson added: “We take any unauthorised use of our content seriously and are looking into this matter.”
A Channel 4 spokesperson commented: “Channel 4 takes any unauthorised use of its content very seriously. Channel 4 believes all use of AI should be fair and this includes respecting the intellectual property rights of third parties.”
AI Media News has made multiple attempts to contact Minimax without success, and it is unknown what content Hailuo.ai is trained on. On the Hailuo website, the company states, “Copyright and intellectual property are key aspects of AI-generated content. At Hailuo AI Video, we ensure that all ownership rights are clear and protected. Understanding and addressing legal issues related to intellectual property help us maintain transparency and respect for creators’ rights. Our goal is to remove any confusion about ownership, thereby safeguarding the interests of everyone involved.”
Bloomberg reported that Shanghai-based Minimax raised $600 million (£474m as of December 2024) in a financing round earlier this year, with major Chinese companies such as Alibaba among those to invest. This valued the company at $2.5 billion (£1.98bn as of December 2024). In addition to Hailuo, Minimax also offers other AI tools such as chatbots, text-to-speech, and music generation. It was founded in 2021, and forms part of a group of Chinese companies that have been dubbed as “China’s AI Tigers” by the South China Morning Post.
New AI video generators are entering the market regularly, including OpenAI making its Sora video generator available to premium ChatGPT users outside of the UK, Switzerland and European Economic Area this week.
