Celebrities' studios warn of AI deepfake endorsement fraud
The studios of Chinese celebrities Sun Li and Deng Chao publicly warned on May 18, 2025, that self-media accounts had been using AI video synthesis technology to create fraudulent endorsement videos featuring their stolen images and voices, promoting products to deceive consumers.
What happened
Self-media accounts used AI technology to synthesize false videos combining the images and voices of celebrities 孙俪 (Sun Li) and 邓超 (Deng Chao), creating fabricated interview content.
These synthetic videos falsely portrayed the celebrities recommending products for various merchants. The studios detected multiple unauthorized uses of the celebrities' likenesses and voices across online platforms.
Reported impact
The fraudulent videos put the public at risk of being deceived into purchasing products based on false celebrity endorsements. Members of the public were warned not to trust such content to avoid being scammed.
Index analysis
The studios stated that all product recommendation videos published by these self-media accounts were false information. The studios preserved evidence of the infringing content and warned publishers and distributors to immediately delete the false videos.
Governance controls
The studios warned that they would pursue legal responsibility against those responsible for creating and distributing the deepfake videos.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.