Tom Hanks Warns Fans About AI-Generated Ads Using His Likeness

Tom Hanks has issued a “public service announcement” from his official Instagram account to clarify that he is not trying to sell any drugs.

On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Oscar winner, 68, shared the message after it came to light that there were ads “falsely using [his] name, likeness, and voice to promote miracle cures and wonder drugs.”

“These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently, and through AI,” Hanks wrote, without naming specific scams. “I have nothing to do with these posts or the products and treatments, or the spokespeople touting these cures.”

The two-time Academy Award winner added that while he does have type 2 diabetes, he only works with a “board-certified doctor regarding treatment.”

“DO NOT BE FOOLED. DO NOT BE SWINDLED. DO NOT LOSE YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY,” Hanks concluded, signing off with his name on the post he captioned, “EXTRA! EXTRA!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!”

This isn’t the first time Hanks has spoken out against artificial-intelligence versions of his likeness being used without his permission. Back in October 2023, he warned his followers on Instagram about a promotional video for a dental plan using a computer-generated image of him, stating, “BEWARE!!”

“There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” he wrote over a photo of his AI-generated self.

The Forrest Gump actor had previously addressed the growing use of AI in creative industries, saying on The Adam Buxton Podcast in May that “this has always been lingering.”

“The first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer — literally what we looked like — was a movie called The Polar Express,” he explained, referencing his work in the 2004 animated Christmas film.

“We saw this coming,” Hanks continued. “We saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. Now that has only grown a billionfold since then, and we see it everywhere.”

Earlier this summer, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, which would increase protection for individuals’ right to publicity by bolstering their legal claims over unauthorized uses of their voice and likenesses. These laws would pertain to both living celebrities as well as those who have died.