Higgsfield backlash is mounting as the fast-growing AI video startup faces accusations of racist promotional content, misleading marketing and payment disputes — all while reporting explosive revenue growth.

The San Francisco-based company, valued at $1.3 billion, claims its tools are used by 15 million creators and ad agencies to generate 4.5 million clips daily. But recent revelations have cast a shadow over its rapid ascent.

Stock Footage Passed Off as AI

In late January, London-based game director Tim Sorret said he was approached by Higgsfield’s marketing team with an offer: share promotional material for its new Vibe Motion tool and receive $200.

But Sorret quickly noticed something unusual. The clips shared with him lacked the typical visual artifacts associated with AI generation. He later concluded that some videos were actually stock templates from Envato with Higgsfield logos pasted on them.

Higgsfield cofounder and chief strategy officer Mahi de Silva acknowledged that a marketing employee created the media kit for “ideation purposes” and that it was inadvertently shared. He described the situation as internal processes going “haywire.”

The episode fueled early signs of Higgsfield backlash among creators who felt the hype was artificially inflated.

Offensive AI Content Sparks Outrage

The Higgsfield backlash escalated further after reports that the company shared racist and obscene AI-generated videos with creators as promotional material.

According to multiple sources, marketing folders included offensive clips featuring children’s characters like Shrek, Moana and Mickey Mouse, as well as nonconsensual deepfakes of public figures including Sydney Sweeney, Zendaya and President Trump.

De Silva confirmed that some of the controversial videos were created by internal marketing staff and third-party creators. “It is absolutely not representative of our values, and it was a mistake,” he said.

CEO Alex Mashrabov later posted publicly that rapid scaling had led to mistakes in internal processes and communications.

Still, critics argue that the company’s approach to pushing controversial content for engagement has contributed significantly to the Higgsfield backlash.

Suspended X Account and Marketing Criticism

The controversy deepened when Higgsfield’s X account was suspended for what the platform described as “inauthentic behavior,” according to de Silva.

At the same time, creators criticized the company’s promotional messaging. Earlier this month, Higgsfield faced additional backlash after advertising its Vibe Motion tool by claiming it had “ended 20 creative jobs,” a tone some described as aggressive and antagonistic.

Unlimited Plans and Payment Complaints

Beyond content concerns, the Higgsfield backlash also centers on subscription and payment disputes.

Users who purchased discounted “unlimited” plans reported severe throttling after generating only a few videos per day. De Silva attributed slowdowns to heavy traffic and bot-driven attacks that forced the shutdown of 40,000 accounts.

The company said it has refunded $1.35 million to impacted users and claimed that 90% of influencer program submissions have been paid.

Still, creators participating in the Higgsfield Earn program reported delays, disappearing submissions and unexplained account bans. The influencer initiative, which commissioned 10,000 creators to submit 50,000 videos in 20 days, was designed to accelerate word-of-mouth growth.

Rapid Revenue Amid Rising Scrutiny

Despite the Higgsfield backlash, the startup’s financial claims remain eye-catching. It says annualized revenue doubled to $200 million in two weeks and crossed $300 million by early February, driven by 300,000 paying users. Mashrabov has publicly stated a goal of reaching $1 billion in annual run rate by year’s end.

After raising $80 million from firms including Accel, GFT Ventures and Menlo Ventures, the company is reportedly in talks to raise additional funding.

But investors remain cautious. Heavy discounts, influencer payouts and aggressive marketing raise questions about long-term sustainability, even as Higgsfield positions itself as a leading customer of OpenAI’s Sora 2 model.

For now, Higgsfield backlash highlights a broader tension in the AI startup ecosystem: the race for hypergrowth versus the risks of reputational fallout.