AI image generator Midjourney bans deepfakes of China's Xi Jinping 'to minimize drama'

Midjourney, an AI image generator that creates realistic deepfakes, has been scrutinized recently for having a policy showing deference to China's communist government. The company enforces a rule that users can generate fake images of world leaders from President Biden to Vladimir Putin, but not Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a year-old message on the chat service Discord, the CEO of Midjourney, Inc. explained why the company has that rule. "I think we want to minimize drama," Midjourney CEO David Holz wrote last summer. He explained that the company did not immediately ban images of Xi, but it was triggered by abuse from users.