Google has released a new AI video generation tool, and it’s clearly very familiar with what Fortnite gameplay looks like. The advanced AI tool generated some very convincing Fortnite footage in response to a simple prompt, churning out a clip that’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Veo 3, the latest video generation model from Google DeepMind, released this week, and already is creating some concerningly realistic footage with its added capacity to generate lifelike audio. The AI tool is also showing a blatant disregard for intellectual property–which may be of more concern to many of the companies that have been quick to implement AI technology.
As picked up by IGN, X user Matt Schumer posted a short clip generated by Veo 3 that shows a streamer winning a game of Fortnite. While it looks a little odd to have the streamer’s face cam superimposed over a shot of a computer monitor, rather than direct gameplay footage, the clip is otherwise indistinguishable from real Fortnite gameplay.
Schumer later shared that the prompt for the clip didn’t actually mention Fortnite at all, and was just nine words long–“Streamer getting a victory royale with just his pickaxe.” While a direct prompt to generate Fortnite footage would get blocked by Veo’s content filters, Schumer discovered that key terms like “Victory Royale” and “pickaxe” were enough for the tool to understand that he was talking about Fortnite. Schumer also showed that the AI tool will generate pure gameplay footage without a streamer overlay.
Veo 3’s ability to generate such convincing Fortnite footage shows that the tool has likely been trained on plenty of copyrighted content, and raises interesting questions about how copyright law will handle generative AI. It’s yet to be seen if Epic–or any other company whose IPs can be this easily copied by AI–will do anything in response.
Epic Games also uses AI tools, including in the development of Fortnite. Most recently, the game allowed players to interact with an AI-powered Darth Vader who interacts with the player in the voice of James Earl Jones. Voice actors union SAG-AFTRA has filed a complaint against Epic Games for its use of AI voice acting.
