Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) tools are now battling each other online. An AI copyright tool is actively serving takedown notices to social media posts containing Mario and other content copyrighted by Nintendo.
AI copyright tool going after AI-generated Mario images
Ever since Gen AI burst on the scene, AI-generated images and videos have been flooding the internet. Social media users are churning out a lot of content using Gen AI tools, and a lot of the imagery appears to ignore copyright laws.
An AI copyright tool is now going after AI-generated content on X (formerly Twitter). Several dozen posts of X have been reportedly taken down. Most of these posts contained images of Mario, which were generated using AI.
According to The Verge, a company called Tracer is using AI to identify the images and serve takedown notices on behalf of Nintendo. The publication posted an AI-generated picture of Mario holding a beer and a cigarette, and sure enough, it was taken down.
The Verge’s Tom Warren received an email shortly after the image was taken down. It indicated a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice was issued to X. The person serving the notice was “customer success manager” Ben Arzen of Tracer.
Tracer is a relatively new company that offers AI-powered services to companies. The company’s AI helps to identify trademark and copyright violations online.
AI tools are also targeting fan art posts
X introduced Grok, its in-house developed Gen AI, a few months ago. Grok is essentially a multi-faceted Gen AI tool that can generate text and images. Grok rivals ChatGPT, Mid-Journey, Dall-E, and other similar Gen AI tools.
It appears the AI copyright tool is predominantly active on X. Moreover, so far, only Nintendo appears to be going after content that the company considers copyright infringement.
Well guys it finally happened#GROK2 made content that Nintendo declared illegal
They took down two of the photos i made with grok and posted depicting Luigi as an IDF soldier for Israel and same with Waluigi.
Elon’s twitter is a dumpster fire😂 pic.twitter.com/soYncGQM6H
— Opie – NAFO rep. for the Ope Society (@TheMidwestFella) September 20, 2024
Some reports suggest the AI tool serving takedown notices is also targeting fan art. Needless to say, this is quite concerning because fan art is content that’s created by individuals and not generated using AI.
Regardless, it might be difficult for an AI tool to make the distinction between user-created and AI-generated art. Moreover, Nintendo has always been very aggressive while dealing with copyright issues. Hence, it makes sense Nintendo hired one of the first companies to use AI to go after AI-generated content.