OpenAI Is Prohibiting Sora Users From Generating Videos of Martin Luther King Jr., Other Public Figures
The move arrives after some users created “disrespectful” videos of the civil rights leader and other well-known public figures using the Sora app.
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI鈥檚 AI video generation app, Sora, is currently the top free iPhone app on Apple鈥檚 U.S. App Store.
- As of Thursday, Sora users can no longer generate videos featuring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. at the request of his estate.
- Sora app users were generating 鈥渄isrespectful depictions鈥 of King an other public figures, according to OpenAI.
In a last week, Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., asked OpenAI’s Sora users to “please stop” sending her AI videos depicting her father.
Now, after “disrespectful depictions” of King’s likeness began emerging on OpenAI’s popular AI video generation app, users will no longer be able to create videos of the late civil rights leader at the request of his estate, OpenAI on Thursday.
“While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used,” OpenAI said in a that has been viewed over one million times. OpenAI added that other “authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.”
Statement from OpenAI and King Estate, Inc.
鈥 OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom)
The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. (King, Inc.) and OpenAI have worked together to address how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s likeness is represented in Sora generations. Some users generated disrespectful depictions of Dr.鈥
OpenAI imposed this restriction on AI video output weeks after launching its , which allows users to generate realistic AI videos of historical figures, their friends, and their own likeness.
One Sora video viewed by featured King telling a gas station clerk about his dream that one day, all slushy drinks will be free 鈥 as he grabs the drink and runs out. Another Sora clip depicts King wrestling with fellow civil rights activist Malcolm X.
Videos have also emerged with President John F. Kennedy and Whitney Houston, according to . Earlier this month, Zelda Williams also asked people to of her father, Robin Williams.
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The app debuted on Sept. 30 in the U.S. and Canada and hit in five days, despite being invitation-only, achieving the milestone faster than ChatGPT. It became the in the U.S. and is still the on the Apple App Store at the time of writing.
Despite its popularity, the app has resulted in concerns about misinformation and , or low-quality AI content flooding the web, per . It has also raised questions about how social media platforms should process AI videos of , like SpongeBob and Pok茅mon. Sora users are already generating videos of the famous cartoons.
Meanwhile, in the weeks since its launch, OpenAI has added restrictions to Sora by giving copyright holders over what kinds of videos can be created with their intellectual property, if any at all.
OpenAI also noted that it was exploring ways to and planned to share some of this revenue with copyright holders.
Related: Is ChatGPT Search Better Than Google? I Tried the New Search Engine to Find Out.
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI鈥檚 AI video generation app, Sora, is currently the top free iPhone app on Apple鈥檚 U.S. App Store.
- As of Thursday, Sora users can no longer generate videos featuring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. at the request of his estate.
- Sora app users were generating 鈥渄isrespectful depictions鈥 of King an other public figures, according to OpenAI.
In a last week, Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., asked OpenAI’s Sora users to “please stop” sending her AI videos depicting her father.
Now, after “disrespectful depictions” of King’s likeness began emerging on OpenAI’s popular AI video generation app, users will no longer be able to create videos of the late civil rights leader at the request of his estate, OpenAI on Thursday.
“While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used,” OpenAI said in a that has been viewed over one million times. OpenAI added that other “authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.”
