OpenAI‘s attempt to take on the short-form social media giants of the world is Sora, a social media-focused app that will let users create ten-second videos based on prompts. It’s powered by the company’s Sora 2 video generation model, with the time restrictions likely working in the model’s favour.
Its release follows an initial report from Wired that the AI company was readying this very thing, but there are caveats for anyone looking to be the next Vine star (but without actually having to roll through traffic in a shopping trolley). For starters, the app is confined to American and Canadian users. They’re further confined to Apple’s iOS platform, with the final confinement being that Sora is invite-only until further notice.
Sora is OpenAI in search of a Keyblade
OpenAI says that its app “turns text prompts and images into hyperreal videos with sound,” adding that users can create novel videos or remix those made by other users. A feature called Cameo lets users appear in their own or others’ videos. There’s a catch, of course. Uploads of pictures or videos are disabled, and the feature can only be accessed by passing an identity verification test that lets Sora use a person’s likeness in created content.
Whether the test procedure is more robust than the workarounds kids have used to bypass the UK’s age verification systems this year remains to be seen, but the procedure sounds easy enough to fool. The so-called “liveness check” entails a user moving their head in prompted directions and reciting a random string of numbers. Existing systems could make doing this with a fake identity a simple procedure.
OpenAI says that there are safeguards built into Sora. Celebrities won’t be generated and, in theory, they would have to grant the app the same permissions everyone else does before their likenesses are included. Anyone whose likeness is included in a new video will be notified each time a video is made, even if it’s not posted. Folks who have their faces used will be co-owners of the video, able to delete the video or prevent further permutations of it using their features. Sora will apparently also refuse to create pornography — how long it’ll last in the face of the Grandma assault is uncertain.
The other folks who need to be concerned about Sora are copyright holders. They apparently have to opt out of having their content used, something Disney has reportedly already done. Best cast yourself and your mates as Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Michael Kaine in The Dark Knight as soon as you can, then.
