AI-generated videos featuring deceased stars have gone viral, circulating widely across social media this week.
The clips depict late icons like 2Pac, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, and Elvis Presley appearing to interact in real time.
In one video, 2Pac records a selfie with Kobe and Elvis, asking them to say “Habana,” seemingly nodding to the long-running conspiracy theory that he’s still alive and living in Cuba. Another shows the All Eyez On Me rapper in a digital race against the late basketball legend.
2Pac also appears in other viral clips chatting with Michael Jackson, Bruce Lee, and the Notorious B.I.G.
Many social media users have voiced concerns over the trend. “They need to regulate this quickly… making AI videos and using people’s likeness can turn left quick… and people shouldn’t be able to monetize it either,” one person wrote.
“Something about this feels strange to me. I’d feel weird about random people making AI videos of me after my death, portraying me a certain way. But maybe that’s just me,” another added.
Still, not everyone found the videos unsettling. Danity Kane’s Aubrey O’Day shared a more positive take, saying she saw beauty in the digital tributes.
“[W]ild. made my heart happy tho to see situations of resolution or solidarity, that will never occur, but it allowed me to imagine it,” Aubrey O’Day wrote earlier this week.
The controversial clips surfaced just before OpenAI announced a major policy shift regarding its AI video generator, Sora 2.
As reported by Gizmodo, OpenAI reversed its original copyright policy, which had previously allowed users to include copyrighted material unless creators opted out. Following backlash — including a statement from the Motion Picture Association criticizing Sora’s potential for copyright abuse — CEO Sam Altman confirmed the company would move to an opt-in model, giving rights holders control over how their characters and content are used.
According to 404 Media, platforms like Reddit and X have since seen frustration from users upset they can no longer make short videos featuring copyrighted figures. One Reddit user complained that the feature was “the only reason this app was so fun,” while another wrote, “Moral policing and leftist ideology are destroying America’s AI industry.”
The debate reignited recently when Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda Williams, publicly urged fans to “stop sending me AI videos” of her late father.
“Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t,” said the 36-year-old. “If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want.”
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., echoed Zelda’s plea, writing, “I concur concerning my father. Please stop.”
