A little-noticed spat between two startups over their highly similar marketing videos is fueling concerns about AI's impact on creativity.

Higgsfield AI, the video generation startup, has been getting buzz lately. My colleagues Valida and Julia reported last week that Higgsfield is raising $300 million to $500 million at a $5 billion valuation, excluding the new funds. And the company recently announced an integration with Claude Code, allowing the Anthropic coding agent to generate videos using Higgsfield’s AI.

Higgsfield recently showed off its features with an AI-generated marketing video. In the video, the protagonist, a startup founder, frantically types on a laptop before lifting his arms and declaring “my app is genius!” But Claude tells him he needs better marketing and shows him three possible branding ideas. The AI guides him through some steps and, when he thinks he’s done, tells him “Not yet!” and says he needs a founder video. When the founder replies “I’m scared to be on camera,” the background dissolves and a suit materializes on him before he proceeds to introduce the product.

It’s a clever concept that, to some viewers, looked a little… familiar. Five days before, rival AI startup Pika released an AI-generated video announcing its own new set of skills for AI agents. In Pika’s video, a startup founder types on his laptop and declares, “I built my app!” Claude gives him three brand ideas and guides him through similar steps. When he thinks he’s done, a disembodied voice tells him “Not quite!” and says he needs a founder video, leading him to protest, “I’m not even camera ready.” The background blows away, professional garb replaces his hoodie and he introduces the product.