“If misused, the technology could enable new forms of abuse, including deepfake news, scams, and reputational attacks.”
ByteDance shipped an AI model that clones your voice from a photo of your face. No voice sample needed. No consent asked. A journalist uploaded his photo and got back audio that sounded just like him. ByteDance pulled the feature after the backlash, but the damage is the quiet part. They built this. They tested it. They shipped it. The “suspension” is PR cleanup. The technology exists and it works. Every scammer on the planet just got a roadmap.