On Tuesday, OpenAI released an AI video app called Sora. The platform is powered by OpenAI’s latest video generation model, Sora 2, and revolves around a TikTok-like For You page of user-generated clips. This is the first product release from OpenAI that adds AI-generated sounds to videos. For now, it’s available only on iOS and requires an invite code to join.
“You are about to enter a creative world of AI-generated content,” reads an advisory page displayed during the app sign-up process. “Some videos may depict people you recognize, but the actions and events shown are not real.”
OpenAI is betting that creating and sharing AI deepfakes will become a popular form of entertainment. Whether it’s your friends, influencers, or random strangers online, Sora frames generating deepfake videos as a form of scrollable fun. The app’s main feed is an endless serving of bite-sized AI slop featuring human faces.
During the set up process, users are given the option to create a digital likeness of themselves by saying a few numbers aloud and turning their head around as the app records. “The team worked very hard on character consistency,” wrote OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a blog about Sora’s release.
People have the ability to choose who can use their digital likeness in Sora videos. It can be set to everyone, or limited to just yourself, those you approve, or mutual connections on the app. Whenever someone generates a video using your likeness, even if it’s just sitting in their drafts, you can see the full clip from your account’s page.
First Impressions
Many of the most-liked videos on my “For You” feed on Tuesday afternoon featured Altman’s likeness. One AI-generated clip depicted the OpenAI CEO stealing a graphics processing unit from Target. When the character gets caught, a voice that sounds like Altman pleads with a security guard to let him keep the GPU so that he can build AI tools.
Many of the videos generated during WIRED’s testing included rough edges and other errors. But Sora makes it incredibly seamless to create personalized deepfakes that often look and sound convincingly real.
To incorporate the likenessnesses of different people in your videos, just tap on their faces on Sora’s generation page and add them as “cameos.” Then, enter a simple prompt, like “fight in the office over a WIRED story.”
