Anime voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda takes TikTok to court over an alleged AI clone of his voice

Kenjiro Tsuda, a Japanese voice actor known for starring roles in franchises such as "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Yu-Gi-Oh!", has sued TikTok over videos he says are narrated by an AI clone of his voice. A verdict is due on Wednesday. The 55-year-old actor wants TikTok to remove a number of videos narrated by a distinctively "deep" and "lustrous" voice that he says can only be his. According to court records seen by AFP, TikTok argues that it is a "generic male voice" and that any similarity to Tsuda's is subjective at best. The case is believed to be the first in Japan seeking to defend an individual's vocal identity against AI-generated copies. Performers worldwide are increasingly worried about AI imitation, and the concern is especially strong in Japan's animation industry, where fans sometimes admire voice actors as much as the characters they play. Yuko Sasaki, executive director of the Japan Actors Union and a voice actor, told AFP that an actor's voice "is the result of years of rigorous training and apprenticeship" and something performers spend "lots of time and money perfecting." The ruling could show how Japanese courts treat claims that a synthetic voice imitates a real performer, and what platforms that host such content may be required to do.