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Message   VRSS    All   LeBron James is reportedly trying to stop the spread of viral AI   July 25, 2025
 4:19 PM  

Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: LeBron James is reportedly trying to stop the spread of viral AI
'pregnancy' videos

Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2025 21:19:47 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/lebron-...

It seems like LeBron James' legal team has been trying to stop the spread of
viral AI videos featuring the basketball star. As 404 Media reported, a law
firm representing James has sent a cease and desist letter to a person behind
an AI platform that allowed Discord users to make AI videos of James and
other NBA stars.

As 404 noted, these videos have been circulating for awhile but it's one
particularly strange clip that seems to have gotten James' lawyers involved.
The video, which reportedly racked up millions of views on Instagram, shows a
pregnant James being loaded into an ambulance after telling an AI Steph Curry
to "come quick our baby is being born."

404 reports that at least three Instagram accounts that had shared the clip
have since been removed, though the video is available on X. The founder of
the AI platform used to make the videos also posted about the cease and
desist letter he received. It's unclear what is in the letter, or if James'
lawyers were also in touch with Meta about the videos. We've reached out to
the company for more info on its rules.

Of course, LeBron James is far from the only public figure to grapple with
unwanted AI versions of themselves. Social media scammers routinely
impersonate celebrities to promote sketchy products and other schemes. We've
previously reported on such scams involving deepfakes of Elon Musk and Fox
News personalities that have proliferated on Facebook. Jamie Lee Curtis also
recently had to publicly plead with Mark Zuckerberg to take down deepfaked
ads of herself.

A still from a clip created with Google's Veo (left) and images generated by
Meta AI (right)Screenshots via Veo and Meta AI

But the videos of James are a little different. They don't feature fake
endorsements and seem to be more of a prank meant to go viral in the way that
lots of "AI slop" does. And James and other celebrities will likely continue
to have a difficult time preventing these kinds of deepfakes from spreading.
Some quick testing by Engadget showed that it's relatively easy to get AI
chatbots to create images and video of "pregnant LeBron James."

We first asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot to make such a photo. All chatbots
initially refused, saying that such an image could go against their
guidelines. But when given an image of James and asked to "make this person
eight months pregnant," Google's Gemini delivered a 7-second clip of the
basketball star cradling a pregnant belly. (We've reached out to Google to
clarify its rules around such content.)

Likewise, Meta AI seemingly had no reservations about producing images of
"pregnant LeBron James" and promptly delivered many such variations. While
these creations aren't as detailed as the initial video that went viral, they
do highlight how difficult it can be for AI companies to prevent people from
circumventing whatever guardrails may exist.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/lebron-...
stop-the-spread-of-viral-ai-pregnancy-videos-211947871.html?src=rss

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