Fake video production for only $145
Launched last week by Tencent’s subsidiary, Tencent Cloud, the service can create a high-resolution deepfake of any person, provided the person in question has at least three minutes of video and 100-sentence speech. The company charges $145 for this. In a short period of 24 hours, the desired person’s waist or entire body is created as a deepfake. Meanwhile, the service is available in both Chinese and English.
For Deepfake virtual people, the firm also offers several options: realistic, semi-realistic and cartoon styles in 3D or real person and cartoon styles in 2D. Customers can decide on the backgrounds of the videos and the tone of the digital person. Chen Lei, General Manager of Intelligent Human Products at Tencent Cloud, said the company aims to build a fully automated “AI + Digital Intelligent Human Factory” platform to create and sell deepfakes.
China is the leader in this field
On the other hand, China leads by far in the world in terms of deepfake use. The state-owned People Daily news outlet has an artificial intelligence-created server called Ren Xiaorong that delivers news 24/7 all year round. If you remember or follow, virtual servers were also used during the China 2022 Winter Olympics.
Deepfakes have been causing controversy since they were first used to replace the faces of adult movie actresses with Hollywood stars. Adult content sites and social media platforms have banned deepfake videos, but these content are becoming more and more realistic. In fact, fraudsters create deepfakes with videos and audios collected from the person’s social media and demand ransom. For these reasons, it is of great importance to always be skeptical of the internet content you see or hear and to verify the source.