A group has seized access to Sora, OpenAI’s video generator, to protest what they call duplicity and “art-washing” on the part of OpenAI.
On Tuesday, November 26, the group published OpenAI’s Sora API interface on the Hugging Face site, which is not yet publicly available.
OpenAI first suggested its text-to-video AI model, Sora, last February and has not provided significant updates on its release date since then. On Tuesday, artists disclosed access to the model to protest its use by the company for what they say is “unpaid research and development and public relations.”
By opening the capabilities of the Sora video generator, anyone could generate 10-second videos in 1080p resolution by typing a short text description. As you can imagine, in a short time, there was a rush. For those who were successful, Open AI’s distinctive visual watermark was embedded in uploaded videos.
By noon Eastern Time, the interface was no longer working, presumably taken offline by Open AI.
In protest
The group, called Sora PR Puppets (Sora’s PR puppets), claims that OpenAI pressures Sora testers, including red team members and creative partners, to spread a positive message around Sora without compensating them fairly for their work.
“Hundreds of artists provide unpaid work through bug testing, feedback, and experimental work for the $150 billion company’s Sora Early Access program. This early access program appears to be less about creative expression and criticism and more about PR and advertising. »
The group also claims that OpenAI is misleading about Sora’s capabilities by holding Early Access users on a short leash. Every Sora production must be approved by OpenAI before being shared widely, the group claims, and only a few creators from the program will be selected to have their Sora-created works reviewed.
Open AI response
In a statement, an OpenAI spokesperson said Sora remains in “research preview” and the company is “working to balance creativity with robust security measures for broader use.” .
“Hundreds of artists have shaped the development of Sora, helping to prioritize new features and protection measures. Participation is voluntary, with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool. We were pleased to offer these artists free access and will continue to support them through scholarships, events and other programs. We believe that AI can be a powerful creative tool and we are committed to making Sora both useful and safe,” according to the Open AI spokesperson.
The latter adds that artists “have no obligation” to OpenAI, other than to use Sora “responsibly” and to refrain from sharing confidential details while Sora is under development.
