Walt Disney Co., Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday sued a Chinese artificial intelligence firm called MiniMax for copyright infringement, alleging its AI service generates iconic characters including Darth Vader, the Minions and Wonder Woman without the studios’ permission.
“MiniMax’s bootlegging business model and defiance of U.S. copyright law are not only an attack on Plaintiffs and the hard-working creative community that brings the magic of movies to life, but are also a broader threat to the American motion picture industry,” the companies said in their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
The entertainment companies requested that MiniMax be restrained from further infringement. They are seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, as well as attorney fees and costs.
This is the latest round of copyright lawsuits that major studios have brought against AI companies over intellectual property concerns. In June, Disney and Universal Pictures sued AI firm Midjourney for copyright infringement. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery also sued Midjourney.
Shanghai-based MiniMax has a service called Hailuo AI, which is marketed as a “Hollywood studio in your pocket” and used characters including the Joker and Groot in its ads without the studios’ permission, the studios’ lawsuit said. Users can type in a text prompt requesting “Star Wars’” iconic character Yoda or DC Comics’ Superman, and Hailuo AI can pull up high quality and downloadable images or video of the character, according to the document.
“MiniMax completely disregards U.S. copyright law and treats Plaintiffs’ valuable copyrighted characters like its own,” the lawsuit said. “MiniMax’s copyright infringement is willful and brazen.”
“Given the rapid advancement in technology in the AI video generation field … it is only a matter of time until Hailuo AI can generate unauthorized, infringing videos featuring Plaintiffs’ copyrighted characters that are substantially longer, and even eventually the same duration as a movie or television program,” the lawsuit said.
MiniMax did not immediately return a request for comment.
Hollywood is grappling with significant challenges, including the threat of AI, as companies consolidate and reduce their expenses as production costs rise. Many actors and writers, still recovering from strikes that took place in 2023, are scrambling to find jobs. Some believe the growth of AI has threatened their livelihoods as tech tools can replicate iconic characters with text prompts.
While some studios have sued AI companies, others are looking for ways to partner with them. For example, Lionsgate has partnered with AI startup Runway to help with behind the scenes processes such as storyboarding.
NEW YORK — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week.
They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and became a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, and a professor of operations management.
Kennedy’s decision to “retire” the previous 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was widely decried by doctors’ groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy’s desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations.
On Tuesday, before he announced his picks, Kennedy said: “We’re going to bring great people onto the ACIP panel — not anti-vaxxers — bringing people on who are credentialed scientists.”
The new appointees include Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Assn. of Catholic Nurses. She has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation.
Another is Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he’s promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19.
He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots and has suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He’s downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years.
Malone told the Associated Press he will do his best “to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.”
Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named.
Abram Wagner of the University of Michigan’s school of public health, who investigates vaccination programs, said he’s not satisfied with the composition of the committee.
“The previous ACIP was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,” he said. Most people on the current list “don’t have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.”
He said having Pebsworth on the board is “incredibly problematic” since she is involved in an organization that “distributes a lot of misinformation.”
The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used. The CDC’s final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs.
The other appointees are:
Dr. James Hibbeln, who formerly headed a National Institutes of Health group focused on nutritional neurosciences and who studies how nutrition affects the brain, including the potential benefits of seafood consumption during pregnancy.
Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies business issues related to supply chain, logistics, pricing optimization and health and healthcare management. In a 2023 video pinned to an X profile under his name, Levi called for the end of the COVID-19 vaccination program, claiming the vaccines were ineffective and dangerous despite evidence they saved millions of lives. Levi told the AP he would try to help inform “public health policies with data and science, with the goal of improving the health and wellbeing of people and regain the public trust.”
Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician from Los Angeles.
Dr. Michael Ross, a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist who previously served on a CDC breast and cervical cancer advisory committee. He is described as a “serial CEO and physician leader” in a bio for Havencrest Capital Management, a private equity investment firm where he is an operating partner.
Of the eight named by Kennedy, perhaps the most experienced in vaccine policy is Meissner, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, who has previously served as a member of both ACIP and the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel.
During his five-year term as an FDA adviser, the committee was repeatedly asked to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that were rapidly developed to fight the pandemic. In September 2021, he joined the majority of panelists who voted against a plan from the Biden administration to offer an extra vaccine dose to all American adults. The panel instead recommended that the extra shot should be limited to seniors and those at higher risk of the disease.
Ultimately, the FDA disregarded the panel’s recommendation and approved an extra vaccine dose for all adults.
In addition to serving on government panels, Meissner has helped author policy statements and vaccination schedules for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
ACIP members typically serve in staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members are all supposed to have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one “consumer representative” who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs.
Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government’s top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. ACIP policies require members to state past collaborations with vaccine companies and to recuse themselves from votes in which they had a conflict of interest, but Kennedy has dismissed those safeguards as weak.
Most of the people who best understand vaccines are those who have researched them, which usually requires some degree of collaboration with the companies that develop and sell them, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher.
“If you are to exclude any reputable, respected vaccine expert who has ever engaged even in a limited way with the vaccine industry, you’re likely to have a very small pool of folks to draw from,” Schwartz said.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Kennedy in February after he promised he would not change the vaccination schedule. But less than a week later, he vowed to investigate childhood vaccines that prevent measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.
Kennedy has ignored some of the recommendations ACIP voted for in April, including the endorsement of a new combination shot that protects against five strains of meningococcal bacteria and the expansion of vaccinations against RSV.
In late May, Kennedy disregarded the committee and announced the government would change the recommendation for children and pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots.
On Monday, Kennedy ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria.
A HHS spokesman did not respond to a question about whether there would be only eight ACIP members, or whether more will be named later.
Stobbe writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press reporters Matthew Perrone, Amanda Seitz, Devi Shastri and Laura Ungar contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, promises that forces will continue their immigration crackdown in an effort to “liberate” Los Angeles, pushing back at criticism that sending the United States military into the city was unwarranted and illegal.
“We have more assets now, today, than we did yesterday. We had more yesterday than we did the day before, so we are only building momentum,” Noem said during a news conference in the city. “This is only going to continue and be increased until we have peace on the streets of Los Angeles.”
As Noem was speaking, a US Democratic senator from California, Alex Padilla, was forcefully ejected from the room while trying to make himself heard – a removal that was swiftly condemned by other Democrats.
Padilla’s office said that once outside the room, the senator was pushed to the ground and handcuffed. He was later released.
President Donald Trump’s decision to dispatch troops to Los Angeles over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom has prompted a national debate about the use of the military in law enforcement operations on US soil.
Some 700 US Marines will be on the streets of the city by Thursday or Friday, the military has said, to support up to 4,000 National Guard troops in protecting federal property and federal agents, including on immigration raids.
Noem defended the use of National Guard troops and Marines alongside ICE agents and other federal personnel, saying Trump “has the right to utilise every authority that he has”.
The state of California is seeking a federal court order later today that would stop troops from “patrolling the streets of Los Angeles” and limit their role to protecting federal personnel and property. California’s lawsuit ultimately seeks to rescind Trump’s order to deploy the National Guard to the area.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem holds a news conference in Los Angeles, California, US, June 12, 2025 [Aude Guerrucci/Reuters]
In a court filing on Thursday, California argued that the federal government has already violated the law by having National Guard troops assist ICE agents in immigration raids.
Noem said federal officers have arrested more than 1,500 people and that the department has “tens of thousands of targets” in the region.
She said the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was investigating whether there are financial links between the protests and political advocacy groups, something of which there has been little evidence.
Trump’s parade
On Saturday, Americans likely will see split-screen images of US troops on the streets of two major cities: Los Angeles, where troops are guarding federal buildings, and Washington, where soldiers, accompanied by tanks and other armoured vehicles, will rumble down Constitution Avenue in a rare public display of military might to celebrate the army’s 250th anniversary.
Nearly 2,000 protests against the parade, which is taking place on Trump’s 79th birthday, are planned around the country in one of the biggest demonstrations against Trump since he returned to power in January.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Thursday he has ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops, along with more than 2,000 state police, to help local law enforcement manage protests against Trump and the continuing federal immigration raids.
Abbott’s announcement did not detail where the troops were sent, but some were seen at a protest Wednesday night in downtown San Antonio near the Alamo. That protest drew hundreds of demonstrators but did not erupt into violence.
“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration law,” Abbott said. “Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
Mayors in San Antonio and Austin have said they did not ask for Abbott to mobilise the National Guard to their cities.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe on Thursday also activated the state’s National Guard “in response to civil unrest”.
“We respect, and will defend, the right to peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence or lawlessness in our state,” Kehoe said in a statement on the governor’s website. “While other states may wait for chaos to ensue, the State of Missouri is taking a proactive approach in the event that assistance is needed to support local law enforcement in protecting our citizens and communities.”
A member of law enforcement disperses people as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025 [David Ryder/Reuters]
The Los Angeles protests began last Friday in response to a series of immigration raids in the city. Trump, in turn, called in the National Guard on Saturday, then ordered the deployment of Marines on Monday.
“Los Angeles was safe and sound for the last two nights. Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the LA Police in a position to effectively do their job,” Trump posted on social media on Thursday.
State and city officials say Trump is exaggerating what is happening in the city and that local police have the situation under control. The protests have been largely orderly but occasionally punctuated by violence, mostly contained to a few blocks.
Police said demonstrators at one location threw commercial-grade fireworks and rocks at officers on Wednesday night.
Another group of nearly 1,000 demonstrators was peacefully marching through downtown when police suddenly opened fire with less lethal munitions in front of City Hall.
Limits sought
Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice.
The administration has circulated images showing National Guard troops protecting immigration agents who were arresting suspected undocumented migrants – a permissible function for the troops under federal law.
But the state argues those Guard troops have crossed the line into illegal activity under the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from participating in civilian law enforcement.
“For example, photos posted on social media by ICE depict heavily armed members of the National Guard standing alongside ICE agents during arrests,” California said in its latest court filing.
Unless a judge intervenes, the military’s role likely will grow to include “detention, interrogation, and other activities that are practically indistinguishable from urban policing operations”, the filing asserts.
The Trump administration said in a Wednesday court filing that the judge should not restrict the military’s activities in Los Angeles.
“Neither the National Guard nor the Marines are engaged in law enforcement. Rather, they are protecting law enforcement, consistent with longstanding practice and the inherent protective power to provide for the safety of federal property and personnel,” the administration wrote.
US Army Major-General Scott Sherman, who commands the task force of Marines and Guardsmen, told reporters the Marines will not load their rifles with live ammunition, but they will carry live rounds.
Protesters react on the ground during a clash with law enforcement officers at a protest against federal immigration sweeps, in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025 [David Swanson/Reuters]
Protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, which began on June 6 in Los Angeles, have spread beyond the California city, across the United States.
This comes days before a military parade scheduled on Saturday in Washington, DC, which marks the US Army’s 250th anniversary. More protests across the US are scheduled on Saturday.
Here is what we know about what is happening and where.
Why are there protests in LA?
On June 6, ICE carried out immigration enforcement raids in LA, in which uniformed ICE agents arrived at various sites in LA in groups of unmarked vehicles, arresting 44 people in a military-style operation.
The operation triggered protests in LA on the same day, and crowds rallied outside a facility where some of the detainees were believed to be held. They were dispersed by police, but protests began again soon after.
US President Donald Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops into the city on June 8, a move condemned as an “illegal takeover” by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who then filed a lawsuit to try to prevent their deployment onto the city streets. The next day, Trump doubled the number of active National Guard troops in the city to 4,000.
On Monday, Trump also ordered 700 marines to be deployed from the Twentynine Palms base east of Los Angeles, describing the city as a “trash heap” that was in danger of burning to the ground.
A federal court hearing about whether or not Trump can legally deploy the National Guard and marines to assist with immigration raids in LA is scheduled for Thursday.
Marines arrived in the city on Tuesday. However, as of Wednesday, they had still not completed training, The Hill reported, citing an unnamed US Northern Command official. The marines are now expected to join the National Guard troops on the streets of LA on Friday.
On Tuesday night, LA Mayor Karen Bass announced a curfew in downtown LA, and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) made several arrests.
A sixth day of protests continued on Wednesday. These were mostly peaceful but featured occasional outbursts of violence.
Where have the protests spread to?
By June 9, protests against the ICE raids and Trump’s deployment of the military had spilled over to several other US cities in solidarity with the LA protesters.
By Wednesday, protests had appeared in 12 other cities across several states. Here is the situation in each city:
California
LA is not the only city in California which is experiencing protests.
San Francisco
Soon after the start of the LA protests, a peaceful protest began in San Francisco with demonstrators gathering outside an ICE building on financial hub Sansome Street in the north of the city.
Local media reported that police arrived in riot gear and made arrests.
On Sunday, June 8, San Francisco police arrested about 60 people, and declared the protest an “unlawful assembly”.
On Monday, the San Francisco police released a statement on X, saying the demonstrations had been “overwhelmingly peaceful” but that “two small groups broke off and committed vandalism and other criminal acts”. It said police had made more arrests, without specifying the number of people arrested. Local media reports suggest the number could be above 150.
Local media reported that ICE agents were also arresting migrants in San Francisco. The city’s mayor, Democrat Daniel Lurie, shared this news on X on Monday, saying: “I have been briefed on the ongoing immigration enforcement actions taking place downtown.”
Lurie added: “I have been and will continue to be clear that these federal immigration enforcement tactics are intended to instil fear, and they make our city less safe.”
He stated the police force would not be involved in making immigration arrests. “Under our city’s longstanding policies, local law enforcement does not participate in federal immigration enforcement. Those are our policies, and they make our city safer.”
On Tuesday, 200 protesters rallied outside the San Francisco Immigration Court. Protests were also reported in the nearby city of Oakland.
A demonstrator holds up a sign in front of police during a protest against federal immigration sweeps at the ICE building in San Francisco, California, on June 8, 2025 [Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters]
Santa Ana
On Monday, protests broke out in Santa Ana in Orange County, a largely Mexican-American city just south of LA.
The protests broke out following reports of ICE raids in the city.
Local media reported that several hundred people were protesting outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and court.
The Santa Ana Police Department released a statement on X saying it was aware of the immigration enforcement actions and would not participate in them.
However, the police department posted another statement on X later on Monday saying: “When a peaceful demonstration escalates into rocks, bottles, mortars, and fireworks being used against public service personnel, and property is destroyed, it is no longer a lawful assembly. It is a violation of the law.” Local media reported that several arrests were made.
Police chief Robert Rodriguez said peaceful protesters would be protected but urged residents not to participate in violent protests or vandalism. “Those who participate in unlawful activities will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
On Tuesday, National Guard troops were deployed to Santa Ana and clashes with protesters were reported.
Washington State
Protests have broken out in Seattle, Washington State’s most populous city.
Seattle
About 50 protesters gathered outside the immigration court in downtown Seattle on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters marched downtown from Capitol Hill. According to the Seattle Police Department, this demonstration was mostly peaceful, but some individuals set fire to a dumpster, which prompted police intervention.
Several clashes were also reported between protesters and the police, who arrested eight people for assault and obstruction.
Spokane
Protests also broke out in Spokane, a city towards the eastern side of Washington State.
The police arrested more than 30 protesters and dispersed the crowd using pepper balls, Spokane police chief Kevin Hall told a news conference.
Mayor Lisa Brown imposed a night curfew in the city, which was set to last until 5am (12:00 GMT) on Thursday.
Texas
Protests have broken out in several cities in Texas. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on X on Tuesday: “Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order. Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.”
San Antonio
On Tuesday, Abbott deployed the National Guard ahead of protests in San Antonio. The city’s mayor, Democrat Ron Nirenberg, said on Wednesday that he had not been informed in advance about the National Guard deployment and had not requested it.
More than 400 protesters gathered outside the city hall on Wednesday in a largely peaceful protest.
Austin
Hundreds of protesters gathered on Monday between the Texas State Capitol building and a federal building which holds an ICE staff office.
More than a dozen people were arrested, Abbott wrote in an X post. The police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters. Some protesters threw rocks at officers and graffitied a federal building, according to local media reports.
Protesters also gathered in the Texas cities of Dallas and Houston.
Denver, Colorado
Protesters gathered outside the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on Tuesday. Police said they arrested 18 people when protesters tried to cross Interstate 25, a highway that runs through New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.
Chicago, Illinois
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered near an immigration centre in Chicago and marched downtown, blocking a plaza.
Some 17 people were arrested, according to the police and some clashes between protesters and police were reported. On the same day, a 66-year-old woman was treated for a fractured arm after she was hit by a car that drove through the protest. No other injuries have been reported.
Omaha, Nebraska
On Tuesday morning, immigration authorities raided a meat production plant in Nebraska’s Omaha city, taking dozens of workers away with them in buses.
Local media reported that about 400 people protested against this raid on Tuesday along the 33rd and L streets.
Boston, Massachusetts
On Monday, hundreds of people gathered outside Boston City Hall, calling for the release of trade union leader David Huerta, who was arrested during the LA protests. Huerta was released on Monday afternoon on a $50,000 bond. However, he remains charged with conspiracy to impede an officer, a felony which could result in a maximum of six years in prison, according to the office of the US Attorney.
New York
Thousands of people protested in Lower Manhattan in New York City on Tuesday. The protesters rallied near an ICE facility and federal courts.
On Tuesday, New York police took 86 people into custody. Some 34 of them were charged, while the rest received a criminal court summons. The police took more people into custody on Wednesday, but did not specify how many.
Law enforcement officers clash with demonstrators and detain them during a protest against federal immigration sweeps next to the US immigration court at the Jacob K Javits Federal Building in New York City on June 11, 2025 [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
On Tuesday afternoon, about 150 people gathered outside the Federal Detention Center and marched between the centre and ICE’s headquarters in the city.
After a group defied police orders to disperse from a major road, 15 people were arrested.
Washington, DC
Demonstrators marched past the Justice Department building in the US capital on Monday. The protesters were calling for the release of union leader David Huerta. There have been no reports of violence or arrests.
Will more protests take place?
Yes. On Saturday, protests opposing Trump’s policies in general are planned in nearly 2,000 locations from parks to cities to small towns.
They will coincide with a military parade in Washington, DC, commemorating the US army’s anniversary, and with Trump’s 79th birthday. No protests are planned in Washington, DC.
