LeBron James is reportedly trying to stop the spread of viral AI 'pregnancy' videos

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)
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-james-is-reportedly-trying-to-stop-the-spread-of-viral-ai-pregnancy-videos-211947871.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/social-media/lebron-james-is-reportedly-trying-to-stop-the-spread-of-viral-ai-pregnancy-videos-211947871.html?src=rss
Établi 1d | 25 juil. 2025, 22:40:04


Connectez-vous pour ajouter un commentaire

Autres messages de ce groupe

China calls for the creation of a global AI organization

China wants to work with other countries and has laid out its plans for the global governance

26 juil. 2025, 17:11:14 | Engadget
People in the UK now have to take an age verification selfie to watch porn online

As of Friday, anyone trying to watch porn online in the UK will need to subject themselves to an awkward selfie or get their photo ID ready. The UK government announced it will start checking compl

26 juil. 2025, 17:11:12 | Engadget
Extreme sports, an FPS from former Blizzard devs and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our weekly roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. There have been quite a few high-profile arrivals this week, as well as others that have left early access and or arrived o

26 juil. 2025, 12:30:15 | Engadget
If you have 90 minutes to spare, play the cyberpunk horror game s.p.l.i.t

s.p.l.i.t is the most badass typing game I’ve ever played. It’s actually more of a hacking simulator, cyberpunk thriller and puzzle experience than a typing game, but its core loop is book

26 juil. 2025, 12:30:13 | Engadget
1Password subscriptions are on sale for 50 percent off right now

A password manager is a crucial tool for anyone, really, but especially students going back to school in the fall. If you're one of them, you probably have more logins to remember now than ever bef

26 juil. 2025, 12:30:13 | Engadget