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Bruce Willis denies selling his face rights

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The agent for Bruce Willis has denied reports that the actor has sold the rights to his face.

Last week, it was widely reported that Willis had sold his face to a deepfake company called Deepcake in the first transaction of its kind.

However, the actor’s spokesperson told the BBC that he had “no partnership or agreement” with the company.

And a Deepcake representative stated that only Willis had the rights to his face.

After being diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects speech, Willis announced his retirement from acting in March.

Deepfakes employ artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology to create realistic videos, frequently featuring celebrities or politicians. The technology has the potential to be game-changing for actors who are no longer able to perform.

The Daily Mail reported on September 27 that Willis and Deepcake had reached an agreement.

“After selling his image rights to Deepcake, two-time Emmy winner Bruce Willis can still appear in movies,” the story says.

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The Telegraph and a number of other media outlets covered the story.

According to the Telegraph, “Bruce Willis has become the first Hollywood star to sell his rights to allow a ‘digital twin’ of himself to be created for use on screen.”

However, this does not appear to be the case.

Last year, a deepfake of Bruce Willis was used to create an advertisement for Megafon, a Russian telecoms company.

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Deepcake, an AI company specializing in deepfakes, developed the technology used in the advertisement.

Deepcake told the BBC that it collaborated closely with Willis’ team on the advertisement.

“What he definitely did is give us his permission (and a lot of materials) to make his Digital Twin,” they said.

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According to the company, it has a one-of-a-kind library of high-resolution celebrities, influencers, and historical figures.

Deepcake promotes its work on its website with an obvious quote from Mr Willis: “I liked the precision of my character.” It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to travel back in time.

“Because the neural network was trained on content from Die Hard and The Fifth Element, my character is similar to images from that era.”

Willis’ agent, on the other hand, told the BBC, “Please know that Bruce has no partnership or agreement with this Deepcake company.”

The BBC asked Willis’s agent if he had ever worked with Deepcake or if the company’s quote was accurate.

The BBC has yet to receive a reply.

Deepcake said in a statement that reports that it had purchased the rights to Bruce Willis’ face were false.

“The rights language is incorrect… “Bruce couldn’t sell anyone any rights; they are his by default,” a company representative said.

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The confusion highlights how new this technology is, as well as the lack of clear rules surrounding it.

AI replacement appears to be on the rise. Darth Vader actor James Earl Jones recently retired from the role, but his voice has been preserved. Another AI company, Respeecher, is said to have replicated the Vader vocals using archival materials and a proprietary algorithm.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Disney’s latest Star Wars spinoff, was released this summer. The show made use of Respeecher’s technology to recreate Darth Vader’s speech and even make him sound younger.

However, AI replacement is divisive.

Equity, the UK’s performing arts workers union, launched the Stop AI Stealing The Show campaign in April. Some are concerned that AI deep fakes will displace actors.

Concerns have also been raised that actors may lose control of their faces and voices.

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