Film Industry AI Collaboration Misunderstood, Official Statement Sets Record Straight

Recent online rumors alleging that Hengdian World Studios provided portrait and voice data of 150,000 background actors to ByteDance for AI model training have sparked widespread discussion. Liu Xing, PR head of Doubao, has publicly addressed these claims, labeling them "severely inaccurate" and providing a detailed clarification on the project's true nature and data governance principles.

Project Core: Building Public Digital Infrastructure, Not Data Harvesting

Liu Xing explained that the Hengdian Film and Television AI Service Platform project is fundamentally aimed at creating public digital infrastructure for the broader film industry. The initiative focuses on transforming Hengdian's physical assets—such as its extensive sets, buildings, and specific environments—into structured, high-quality digital datasets.

This infrastructure is designed to address practical production challenges:

  • Boosting Production Efficiency: Enabling production teams and directors to conduct remote location scouting, pre-production planning, and pre-visualization more effectively.
  • Lowering the Tech Barrier: Allowing small and medium-sized film enterprises with limited budgets to utilize AI tools for creative processes and workflow optimization.
  • Empowering Creators: Providing high-quality digital scene resources to help a wider range of creators produce better work.

In this collaboration, ByteDance's Volcano Engine serves as the technology solutions provider and support partner.

Data Ownership and Usage Boundaries: Addressing Public Concerns

Regarding the critical issue of data security, Liu Xing offered clear definitions:

First, data asset ownership is unambiguous. All digital assets generated by the project are owned by Hengdian or relevant authorized parties, not the technology partner.

Second, strict prerequisites govern personal biometric data usage. Liu Xing specifically stressed that the use of any individual's portrait, voice, or other biometric identifiers within the project "definitely requires obtaining explicit authorization from the individual themselves." This directly addresses the core controversy of the rumor.

Most importantly, data usage has clear limitations. He explicitly stated, "Data from this project will not be used to train ByteDance's large models." This draws a definitive line between the project's data and the development of ByteDance's own AI model products, dispelling the primary misconception.

Industry Insight: Ethical Guardrails Are Essential for AI in Film

The spread of this rumor and its subsequent clarification highlight widespread concerns about data ethics and personal rights protection as AI integrates into the entertainment industry. The project's actual orientation suggests a more sustainable path: driving production efficiency by building industry-shared, non-sensitive digital asset libraries (like 3D-scanned sets) rather than relying on personal biometric data. This offers a compliance-conscious and ethically grounded reference model for the convergence of AI and film production.