OpenAI announced Thursday that it has suspended the ability for users to use its AI video model, Sora, to generate videos resembling the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. The company said it added this protection at the request of Dr. King’s estate after some Sora users generated “disrespectful depictions” of Dr. King’s image.
“While there is a strong interest in free speech in depicting historical figures, we believe that public figures and their families should ultimately be able to control how their likenesses are used,” OpenAI said in a post to X from its official newsroom account. “An authorized representative or property owner may request that their likeness not be used in a Sora cameo.”
The restrictions come just weeks after OpenAI launched its social video platform, Sora, which allows users to create realistic AI-generated videos that resemble historical figures, their friends, and users who choose to recreate their likeness on the platform. The announcement sparked a heated public debate about the dangers of AI-generated video and how platforms should implement guardrails around the technology.
Dr. Bernice King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, took to Instagram last week to urge people to stop sending AI videos that resemble her father. She joins Robin Williams’ daughter in asking Sora users to stop generating AI videos of her father.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Sora users have created AI-generated videos of King making monkey noises and wrestling with Malcolm X, another civil rights icon. Scroll through OpenAI’s Sora app and you can easily find crude videos that resemble other historical figures, including artist Bob Ross, singer Whitney Houston, and former President John F. Kennedy.
The licensor of Dr. King’s Estate did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Beyond how Sora represents humans, the announcement raises a series of questions about how social media platforms should treat AI videos of copyrighted works. The Sora app is also full of videos depicting cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants, South Park, and Pokemon.
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OpenAI added other restrictions in the weeks following Sora’s launch. The company announced in early October that it plans to give copyright holders more control over the types of AI videos that can be generated using their likenesses. That may have been a reaction to Hollywood’s initially poor reaction to Sora.
As OpenAI adds restrictions to Sora, the company appears to be taking a more manual approach to moderating content on ChatGPT. OpenAI announced this week that it will allow adult users to engage in “erotic” chats on ChatGPT in the coming months.
In the case of Sora, OpenAI appears to be addressing concerns with AI video generation. In the days following its launch, some OpenAI researchers publicly wrestled with questions about the company’s first AI-powered social media platform and how such a product would fit into the nonprofit’s mission. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company felt “concerned” about Sora on launch day.
Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, told me earlier this month that the best way to teach the world about new technology is to get it out there. That’s what the company learned with ChatGPT and what OpenAI is discovering with Sora, he said. The company also appears to be learning how to distribute this technology.
