A Chinese court recently made a landmark ruling, finding an artificial intelligence (AI) service guilty of copyright infringement for generating images closely resembling the popular Japanese superhero character Ultraman, in what appears to be the first such ruling. The plaintiff, holding partial copyright to Ultraman, sued the unnamed AI company after its software created similar images. The Guangzhou Internet Court deemed the generated images substantially similar to Ultraman, possibly trained on the original character, and awarded damages of 10,000 RMB ($1,389). This ruling follows a Beijing court’s decision in November affirming artists’ copyright over AI-generated material, highlighting the legal complexities surrounding AI’s potential to violate intellectual property rights and setting the stage for further debate and legal scrutiny globally.