Night in the Woods publisher Finji accuses TikTok of creating “racist, sexist” and uneditable GenAI ads for its games

Indie publisher Finji has accused TikTok of modifying its game ads with generative AI without its knowledge or permission.

As IGN reports, an advert for Finji’s 2025 game Usual June was modified to produce a “sexualised, racist, and sexist representation of [the] studio’s work.” The ad, which was presented as coming from Finji’s account, presented a sexualised version of the game’s female protagonist that differs substantially from her appearance in the game.

Finji first learned about the AI-generated content from comments on TikTok and its official Discord in early February.

The publisher’s CEO and co-founder, Rebekah Saltsman, clarified that Finji runs ads on TikTok but had not opted into the platform’s AI tools. This includes two features: Smart Creative and Automate Creative, both of which use generative AI to generate multiple ad versions and “automatically optimise” assets.

Finji said it is “unable to view or edit the AI-generated versions of its own ads” and has repeatedly tried to resolve the issue with TikTok’s support team.

It provided IGN with screenshots of the support conversation, which confirmed that the studio was not using AI content but was unable to explain how the ads had appeared or give a timeline for resolving the problem. Subsequently on February 6, a TikTok support agent said it “did not see any indication that AI-generated assets or slideshow formats were used.”

After Finji provided evidence disproving this claim, the support agent then acknowledged “the unauthorised use of AI, the sexualisation and misrepresentation of your characters, and the resulting commercial and reputational harm to your studio.”

It continued: “We want to be clear that we are no longer disputing whether this occurred. We understand that you have provided documentation and that audience comments on the ads further corroborate your claims.”

However, despite saying that the matter would be “escalated immediately for further review at the highest appropriate level” and it would “discuss next steps toward resolution,” the platform made no further contact and a subsequent followup from Finji only prompted a separate answer saying the firm’s ad campaign was using “a catalog ads format designed to demonstrate the performance benefits of combining carousel and video assets in sales campaigns.”

TikTok declined to provide comment on-record to IGN regarding this situation.

“I have to admit I am a bit shocked by TikTok’s complete lack of appropriate response to the mess they made,” Saltsman told the site.

“It’s one thing to have an algorithm that’s racist and sexist, and another thing to use AI to churn content of your paying business partners, and another thing to do it against their consent, and then to also NOT respond to any of those mistakes in a coherent way? Really?”

“What really is utterly baffling is what appears to be a profound void where common sense and business sense usually reside,” she continued.

“Does TikTok want me to be grateful for the mistreatment of my company and our game? Based on the wild response through the weeks of customer service correspondence we have received, I think this is their stance and take on their obvious offensive and racist technology and process and how they secretly use it on the assets of their paying clients without consent or knowledge.

Saltsman added: “This is just simply embarrassing, but not for me as an individual. For me, I am just super pissed off. This is my work, my team’s work and mine and my company’s reputation, which I have spent over a decade building. My expectation was a proper apology, systemic changes in how they use this technology for paying clients and a hard look at why their technology is so obviously racist and sexist. I am obviously not holding my breath for any of the above.”