The Director Caught in the AI-Slop Crosshairs - Vulture
Users leveraged the Genjutsu AI tool to create unauthorized deepfake recreations of the music video Storm by replacing original performers with celebrities.
- Reported date
- Oct 20, 2026
- Target
- Romain Gavras and the music video project Gener8ion
The exact incident date was not established. This entry is dated by its source report.
The Storm Incident
In September 2026, the music video "Storm," directed by Romain Gavras for the project Gener8ion, became the target of a widespread AI-driven trend. Despite the original video being a meticulously crafted, practical production featuring rapper Yung Lean and 66 dancers filmed in a single take, social media was flooded with unauthorized AI-generated recreations. These clips replaced the original performers with various subjects, including celebrities, public figures, pets, and even historical figures, while maintaining the original choreography and camera movements.
What happened
The proliferation of these unauthorized copies was largely facilitated by a tool called Genjutsu, released in late August by the AI video company Higgsfield. Unlike previous generation tools that could only replace one or two subjects, Genjutsu allowed users to replace an entire crowd of 67 people simultaneously. By uploading up to 30 seconds of footage and reference images, users could generate new videos that preserved the original's timing, motion, and cinematography. As the trend gained momentum, other AI applications began offering ready-made "Storm" templates to capitalize on the viral interest.
Romain Gavras expressed frustration over the trend, noting that the unauthorized copies undermined the significant human effort invested in the original work. While legal experts suggest the choreography is likely protected by copyright, pursuing litigation remains difficult due to the anonymous nature of the thousands of users creating the content. Gavras ultimately chose to perform a live version of the dance sequence at the MTV Video Music Awards to demonstrate the enduring value of human performance against the backdrop of AI-generated "slop."