BBC reported Bruce Willis' agent denied reports that the American actor sold the rights to his 'digital face.'
It was reported by several media outlets, including the Telegraph, Daily Mail, and others, that Willis reached a deal to sell a "digital twin" of his face to deepfake company Deepcake.
A spokesperson for the actor told BBC that he had "no partnership or agreement" with Deepcake.
On Sept. 27, Daily Mail first reported the actor struck a deal with Deepcake.
"Two-time Emmy winner Bruce Willis can still appear in movies after selling his image rights to Deepcake," the story reads.
The Telegraph's story reads:
"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, Reuters reported last year that "Deepcake used an authorized deepfake of Bruce Willis in the commercial for telecoms company Megafon."
Russian firm Deepcake used an authorized deepfake of the Bruce Willis in the commercial for telecoms company Megafon. The company uses an artificial neural network to impose Willis' image onto the face of a Russian actor pic.twitter.com/7bizoLsk2S
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 22, 2021
Deepcake told BBC that it worked with Willis' team on the commercial:
"What he definitely did is that he gave us his consent (and a lot of materials) to make his Digital Twin," the tech company said.
Willis's agent clarified that "Bruce has no partnership or agreement with this Deepcake company."
Deepcake said news reports about purchasing Willis's digital face were inaccurate:
"The wording about rights is wrong… Bruce couldn't sell anyone any rights, they are his by default," a company spokesperson said.
The controversy highlights the growing trend behind AI face replacement.
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Bruce Willis retired from acting following a diagnosis of aphasia, which causes a person to have difficulty communicating with others, but a "digital twin" of the American actor using deepfake technology will live on in future films and commercials.
The Telegraph reported Willis is the "first Hollywood star" to sell the rights of his digital twin in perpetuity. The actor will license his digital rights through a company called Deekcake, which specializes in artificial intelligence.
In a statement on Deepcake's website, Willis said:
"I liked the precision with which my character turned out. It's a mini-movie in my usual action-comedy genre. For me, it is a great opportunity to go back in time.
"With the advent of modern technology, even when I was on another continent, I was able to communicate, work and participate in the filming. It's a very new and interesting experience, and I thank our entire team."
Deepcake's website said, "We make digital twins of people you won't tell from real." They added this technology is very disrupting to the film industry:
We create digital-twins of celebrities, and the actual production process doesn't require the physical presence of a celebrity on stage. Deepcake is only team able to make digital twin in 4K quality, On top, we can hyper-personalize your brand's message, and jump on arena of performance marketing with A-List celebrities
Engadget said Deepcake's engineers created the digital double by training its AI platform to study the actor's face in several past films, including Die Hard and Fifth Element. Then the AI grafted Willis' face on another actor.
Willis' digital twin has already appeared in a commercial for a Russian telecoms company.
There are concerns deepfake technology could be used to spread
misinformation via digitally manipulated footage of people saying and
doing things that never happened.
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