'Just plain insulting': Sellers on Shopee and TikTok…

What happened

Starting in late 2025 and continuing through 2026, sellers on Shopee and TikTok have reported an influx of unauthorized, AI-generated videos marketing their products. These videos often feature AI avatars and hallucinated details, leading to significant misrepresentation. In March 2026, author Xie Shi Min discovered an AI-generated video promoting her novel, Ghost Hunters of Geylang. The video inaccurately described the young adult book as a fun children’s adventure, warped the cover art, and included bizarre claims, such as the protagonist being able to smell durian. Similar issues have affected other creators, including design studio owner Koh Wan Yi, who found AI videos on TikTok and Shopee showcasing her planners and stickers with incorrect sizes, colors, and even foreign languages.

The proliferation of these videos is linked to automated tools provided by the platforms. TikTok Shop updated its video maker tool to allow creators to generate AI content with embedded product links, while Shopee introduced a video feature in late 2025 to help shoppers make purchasing decisions. However, sellers report a lack of control over this content. Many are unable to easily remove or disable these AI videos, even when they misrepresent the product. Efforts to report the videos to platform support have proven difficult, with sellers often struggling to reach human representatives or finding that removed videos are quickly replaced, a phenomenon likened to a hydra. While platforms maintain that they have safeguards and reporting mechanisms in place, affected sellers argue that these measures are insufficient to protect their brand integrity and ensure customers receive accurate product information.