Shanghai court rules on AI voice cloning case involving 'genshin impact'

The Pudong New Area People's Court in Shanghai ruled on the first AI voice impersonation case in the city, involving miHoYo's 'Genshin Impact.' The defendant offered 63 voice resource packages of game characters and used character images, prompting a lawsuit. The court found the AI service caused auditory confusion, as generated voices were 'tended to identify as the same' as original character voices. The defendant used unauthorized one-minute audio clips to train its AI model. Judge Xu Hongtao stated game character voices are commercial identifiers. The court ordered the defendant to cease unfair competition and pay 750,000 yuan in compensation. On September 7, 2026, the Supreme People's Court issued guidelines stating using a natural person's voice without consent for synthetic voice generation constitutes infringement. The ruling clarifies that voice cloning without consent is no longer in a legal gray area, emphasizing protection of natural persons' voice rights. This case sets a precedent for future AI-generated content disputes and intellectual property rights cases.