OpenAI’s new AI tool, Sora, is all the rage! It’s already crossed one million downloads in under five days, an impressive feat topping the launch milestone record set by ChatGPT. The app allows users to generate text-to-video content effortlessly, catering to a growing demand for interactive media on social platforms. At first, Sora was only released in North America and available only to invite-only users. Sadly, its newfound popularity has flooded social media feeds with graphic and disturbing videos.
Bill Peebles, the director of Sora, touted 5 million+ downloads in a Thread on X (formerly Twitter). This announcement is a testament to the application’s skyrocketing popularity. Users are happily flocking to Sora to produce and distribute dynamic video assets. This enthusiasm has turned video production into a fundamental mode of digital communication.
Sora’s ability to easily convert written stories into captivating video shorts has opened up a realm of creative possibilities to users. And thousands of you are posting pictures of your homes to social media. Their artistry includes colorful representations of late cultural icons such as Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur. These short films have already sparked passionate debate about the merits and ethics of AI-generated film. People get really uncomfortable even with the idea of monetizing likenesses of living, breathing people.
Sora has produced a few very playful pieces that instantly hook you. Perhaps the most noteworthy piece is this deepfake video of OpenAI’s Sam Altman talking to Pokémon characters. As he jokingly states in this clip, “Nintendo don’t sue us.” Though this fun and whimsical parsing of IP law has captured people’s imaginations, it highlights serious concerns with copyright and the rights of creators.
As of this writing, Nintendo has not publicly stated its intentions to sue Sora. The quickly proliferating generative AI content is raising the legal microscope across the board in all industries. Developers of popular generative AI technologies are already being sued for training their systems on copyrighted material without permission. Anthropic just settled their Series C at $1.5 billion. This settlement is meant to resolve the authors’ claims, who claimed their works were used without consent to train AI models.
The development of Sora has been attributed to the increased interest in interactive fan fiction. Sam Altman has called Sora’s videos the beginning of a new art form. These shorts provide an opportunity for fans to express their creative side with characters and stories they love.
Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late actor Robin Williams, has issued an emotional plea. She implores people to stop flooding her with AI-generated videos of her dad. The long-running discussion over the ethical application of AI has never been more visible. It’s all about reimagining the images and characters of actual people.