Meet The Fake Tom Cruise - Design for Growth

A co-founder of an AI software company, Metaphysic.ai, formed following the viral spread of Tom Cruise “deepfake” videos on TikTok, is advocating for increased awareness of the technology and steps to secure your own digital identity.

Focused on creating hyperreal virtual experiences in the metaverse, Metaphysic has raised $7.5 million from investors including Section 32, 8VC, TO Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, and Logan Paul.

According to its co-founder, the firm aims to grow in an ethical, safe and responsible manner. The challenge lies in the potential ethical concerns posed by AI-generated content such as deepfakes, which can alter a person’s appearance to make them appear to say or do anything, as seen in the case of the Tom Cruise deepfake videos on TikTok.

Navigating ethical boundaries poses a particularly difficult challenge for the company, as the co-founder, Christopher Ume, initially created the Tom Cruise deepfakes as an art project before the company was created.

It “was begun with the purpose of generating awareness for manipulated media, and the potential for what could happen, obviously [deepfake] Tom Cruise is kind of irreverent, fun, entertaining content. When it suddenly blew up we contacted Tom Cruise’s team and ultimately they didn’t have an issue.”