Robin Williams’ children have revived the late actor’s Instagram account, more than a decade after his death, in an effort to preserve his legacy and combat unauthorized AI recreations of his voice and likeness.
The account returned nearly a month after what would have been Williams’ 75th birthday, with his children Zak, Zelda, and Cody Williams announcing plans to use it as a trusted home for authentic photos, videos, stories, and memories of their father.
Williams died in August 2014 at the age of 63. His Instagram account had remained dormant since his death, but his family says advances in AI and the growing number of artificial recreations of the actor have given them a reason to bring it back.
Robin Williams’ children want account to combat “rampant AI abuse”
“We’re grateful to see new generations discovering his work while longtime fans continue to celebrate the joy he brought into their lives,” Zak, Zelda, and Cody said in a joint statement posted to the account.
“As technology evolves, we want this to be a safe, trusted place where the stories, photos, videos, and memories shared reflect his legacy with authenticity, warmth, and care.
“This is our way of sharing his unique talent and humor with the world, including the moments that made us and so many of you laugh, as we remember our Dad’s extraordinary life and work. He continues to inspire us and delight people all over the world.”
According to Variety, Zelda Williams further explained the decision in a now-deleted Instagram Story, acknowledging that seeing her father’s account active again could be difficult for some fans.
“Believe me, I know it’s a little strange,” she wrote. “Making that space into one where people can find authentic clips and photos of him is one of the best ways we’ve now found to fight back against rampant AI abuse of his voice and likeness on here.”
The revival comes amid the increasing availability of AI tools capable of recreating the voices and appearances of celebrities, including those who have died.
Zelda has repeatedly spoken out against AI-generated content featuring her father. In October 2025, she asked people to stop sending her AI videos recreating Williams.
“It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want,” she wrote at the time.
“To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to ‘this vaguely looks and sounds like them so that’s enough’, just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening.”
She also criticized AI recreations of Williams during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, describing videos using her father’s voice as “personally disturbing.”
“These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for,” she said.
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