Prominent tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee on Wednesday took to X, formerly Twitter, and slammed a "random AI company" alleging that it has been using his likeness without taking permission.
What Happened: The AI company named "Agent Gold" has apparently launched its "first product: the AI chatbots of all your favorite YouTubers" on Product Hunt, an American website that helps users share and discover new products, earlier this year.
Brownlee said that this company with an AI chatbot for chatting with YouTubers never sought his consent for using the YouTuber's likeness.
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"There’s a random AI company parading around an AI chatbot to “chat with a YouTuber” and it’s so incredibly bad. Just spews lies. They also never got permission to use my likeness, and I suspect several others on this list were never even asked. Avoid this TRASH," he said.
The other YouTubers that users can chat with on the platform include Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, Lex Fridman, Lilly Singh and Dianna Cowern, popularly known as her YouTube channel name Physics Girl.
In response to a user, Brownlee said that he doesn't mind the AI platform using his videos for training the chatbot, but it’s the use of "likeness" without permission that concerns him. "It’s not actually training the AI on my videos that I take issue with, it’s using my likeness without permission (that’s why Meta had to use codenames)."
While replying to another user, Brownlee said that he is "actually fine" with companies using his likeness, provided they refrain from using his real name for promotional purposes.
As an illustration, he cited Meta AI’s chatbot, which employs MrBeast’s image but adopts the names “Zach” and “The Funny Man” as identifiers.
Agent Gold in an emailed statement to Benzinga emphasized their respect for YouTubers like Brownlee and underscored their commitment to accessibility and fan engagement as core principles behind the chatbot. To address concerns about creator portrayal, the company said its AI now operates as a factual resource like a search engine, tutor, or fan, “without misrepresenting the creator's identity,” and YouTubers can easily opt out of inclusion.
At this point, it is unclear whether Brownlee intends to seek legal action against Agent Gold.
Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock.com
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