TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has quietly introduced a sophisticated AI model capable of generating highly realistic videos, positioning the company ahead of its American competitors and sparking fresh concerns about deepfake technology.
The latest innovation, known as OmniHuman-1, can create lifelike videos of people moving and speaking naturally from just a single image, according to a research paper by the company.
Experts caution that if the technology becomes publicly available, it could be exploited for malicious purposes, intensifying long-standing security worries surrounding ByteDance.
ByteDance developers trained OmniHuman-1 on more than 18,700 hours of footage, allowing the model to achieve an unprecedented level of personalization and realism. Users can generate highly detailed human videos with seamless movements that overcome the typical flaws found in other AI-generated content, such as unnatural hand gestures or poor lip synchronization.
Some experts worry that these advancements could make AI-created content harder to detect, further complicating efforts to identify synthetic media. Generative AI specialist Henry Ajder outlined the dangers, pointing out how simple it is to control media these days. “If all you need is one image, then suddenly it becomes much easier to target a person,” Ajder stated.
A ByteDance spokesperson noted that if the model were to be made publicly accessible, safeguards would be in place to prevent misuse. TikTok has already implemented AI content labeling and is working to enhance public awareness of artificial intelligence-generated media.
Among the demonstrations featured in the research paper, OmniHuman transformed a portrait of Albert Einstein into a video where he appeared to deliver a lecture. Other examples included AI-generated musicians singing and playing piano and speakers giving TED Talks. According to ByteDance, the model can create realistic videos in various aspect ratios using just an audio clip and image.
Despite the technological leap, this advancement raises concerns about the potential dangers of deepfakes, including their use in political misinformation or unauthorized explicit content. Some experts warned that more realistic AI-generated videos could significantly increase security threats.
Leading up to the 2024 elections, AI-generated media played a role in spreading political misinformation. A Brookings Institution report detailed how Russian operatives used AI to craft misleading videos about crime, immigration, and the Ukrainian war. While many false narratives were debunked by local authorities, AI-generated content has had significant repercussions worldwide.
In Bangladesh, a manipulated image falsely depicted a politician in a revealing outfit, while in Moldova, an AI-created video showed the country’s pro-West leader seemingly endorsing a pro-Russian political group.
The U.S. has also seen AI-generated misinformation infiltrate elections. Before the New Hampshire primary, an artificial voice imitating President Joe Biden was used in phone calls, urging voters to skip the election and wait for the general vote in November. Authorities later determined this to be an illegal attempt to disrupt the electoral process and suppress voter participation.
Although OmniHuman has not been publicly released, Ajder speculated that ByteDance might soon integrate it into platforms like TikTok. This raises complex geopolitical challenges, as ByteDance, under Chinese law, is required to collaborate with the country’s intelligence and military agencies.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is making unprecedented investments in AI to stay competitive. Last month, President Donald Trump highlighted a $500bn private-sector AI initiative involving Oracle, OpenAI, and Softbank.
U.S. tech companies like Nvidia Inc. (NASDAQ: NVDA) now have to contend with a very real threat of being outcompeted by AI technologies from China. More needs to be done to maintain their leadership in this fast-evolving industry.
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