Japan Launches Probe into China’s Tiktok Operator over Copyright Violations; Videos Featured AI-Generated Takaichi, Detective Conan, Ultraman

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:33 JST, February 14, 2026

The Cabinet Office on Friday launched an investigation into China’s Bytedance Ltd. over potential Copyright Law violations, after AI-generated videos of Japanese content began spreading on social media.

Clips featuring AI-generated Japanese characters and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have gone viral and are believed to have been made without permission using the TikTok operator’s own video-generating AI.

According to the Cabinet Office, the generative AI in question was released in China on a limited basis earlier this month. Videos of what appear to be characters from the Ultraman series, the popular manga and anime series “Detective Conan” and of Takaichi began being created around Tuesday and spreading on TikTok and X.

“We cannot overlook a situation in which content is being used without the copyright holder’s permission,” Economic security minister Kimi Onoda said at a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

The Cabinet Office on the same day sought a prompt response from Bytedance’s Japanese subsidiary regarding measures to address the issue.

The subsidiary told The Yomiuri Shimbun it has confirmed that the videos in question exist and said, “We are taking action.”