00:00Japan's government has formally asked OpenAI to stop allowing its new video generation tool,
00:04Saw2, for amusing Japanese anime and manga content in ways that could infringe corporates.
00:08According to Maino Rugechi, the Minister of State for Intellectual Property Strategy,
00:12the government submitted the request via the Cabinet Office's IP Strategy Promotion Secretariat.
00:17He stated,
00:17Asterisk anime and manga are replaceable treasures that we can be proud of around the world.
00:21Asterisk
00:22The concern arises because Saw2 was released at the end of last month and quickly became
00:26popular for generating videos that mimic the style of Japanese studios as well as characters from
00:30games and anime. One politician, Akeza Shizaki, noted that when he entered certain prompts into Saw2,
00:36it produced highly realistic animations of popular anime characters but characters owned by major
00:40American companies, like Mickey Mouse or Superman, did asterisk not asterisk appear. He described this
00:45as a serious problem under copyright law. Following the complaints, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted publicly
00:51on October 3, acknowledging the creativity of Japanese content and pledging to provide more
00:55control to rights holders. Shizaki later claimed that after their discussions, OpenAI began blocking
01:00unauthorized creation of certain Japanese anime and game characters. Nonetheless, the government says
01:05the filtering is not yet sufficient. While Saw2 apparently refuses to create videos of specific
01:10copyrighted characters of, for example, Front Asterisk, Final Fantasy Room and 7 Asterisk series,
01:14it still generates content asterisk in this style of asterisk major Japanese studios like Studio Ghibli.
01:19Japan argues it must continue to press OpenAI because its cultural exports are at stake.
01:23At the heart of the issue lies a growing conflict of interest between Japan's powerful anime and
01:28manga industry and the expanding world of AI-driven creativity. On one side, creators and studios fear
01:33the erosion of intellectual property and the loss of artistic identity built over decades. On the other,
01:38advocates for AI and free creativity argue that restricting generative tools stifles innovation
01:43and artistic evolution. The debate reflects a deeper question, can cultural heritage and
01:47open source creativity coexist, or are they destined to clash as AI redefines what it means to create?
01:53In the end, this dispute is more than a legal battle, it's a cultural crossroads.
01:57Japan stands as the guardian of an art form beloved worldwide, while AI continues to blur the lines
02:01between homage and imitation. The outcome may shape not only the future of anime and manga,
02:06but also the global definition of creativity itself.
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