An AI powered copyright tool is being used to remove AI generated images of Nintendo characters such as Mario from the internet.
That’s according to a report from The Verge, whose own reporter Tom Warren received a takedown notice for his AI generated artwork, which showed Mario sitting on a beach with a cigarette in one hand and a steaming (not sure why) pint of beer in the other.
The publication said a company called Tracer has been filing these takedown notices against AI images featuring Nintendo’s moustachioed plumber and his pals, including ones made with xAI’s Grok AI tool.
According to Tracer’s website, the company uses “human-in-the-Loop AI and machine learning to dramatically shorten the time from detection to enforcement by intelligently automating the review process and automatically offering an enforcement recommendation”.
While The Verge’s own Nintendo-related artwork has been removed, a Halo-inspired image depicting Xbox’s Master Chief playing a PlayStation 5 remains (see post below). Meanwhile, another affected account which generated an image of Luigi as an IDF soldier with the Grok AI tool also said its content has been removed from the internet.
At the time of writing, I have also come across a clearly AI-generated image of Mario in possession of drugs still on X, so not all images have been removed by the AI tool.
It is currently unclear whether Tracer is acting on instructions from Nintendo, although the Mario maker is notoriously protective of its property. Most recently, it announced it is suing Palworld developer Pocketpair for patent infringement.
Perhaps an unexpected side effect of this AI purge by an AI tool, however, is that fanart has also reportedly been removed from social media accounts. “Apparently drawing Nintendo characters [is] copyright infringement,” shared one X user, with an image of their own takedown notice.
Neither Nintendo or Tracer have commented on these takedown notices yet, although Eurogamer has reached out for more.
AI remains a hot topic within the video game industry, with many concerned about its impact on the sector. Earlier this year, Square Enix admitted it “dabbled” with AI technology for Foamstars, while Ubisoft unveiled an AI scriptwriting aid in 2023. More recently, a report by Unity claimed 62 percent of studios use AI at some point during game development, with animation as the top use case.
For more, our Ed spoke with AI expert Dr. Tommy Thompson all about the technology, and how it is changing video game development forever.
