Hollywood star Bruce Willis has denied selling the rights of his face to an AI company to create his ‘digital twin’.
According to Deadline, it was widely reported last week that the actor sold the rights to his face to a Russian deepfake company called Deepcake.
This would have allowed them to create a ‘digital twin’ for the actor, who retired in March following his diagnosis of aphasia, a condition affecting a person’s speech.
According to Deadline, Willis’ spokesperson denied any kind of partnership or agreement with the company this weekend. Deepcake confirmed this to a British news outlet.
Deepfake companies use artificial intelligence to create realistic simulations of famous figures.
A deepfake of Willis appeared in an advert for a Russian telecoms company last year.
Deepcake claims to have worked with the actor on the AI for the ad and used a glowing recommendation from him on their website, but Willis’s people did not confirm this, as per Deadline.
This comes after ‘Star Wars’ veteran James Earl Jones handed over the rights of his unique Darth Vader tones to another AI company, Respeecher, indicating that he was retiring from the role, and passing the baton through use of technology.