Sora OpenAI

Photo Credit: OpenAI Sora

OpenAI granted 300 artists early access to its new genAI video tool, Sora, but quickly shut it down only three hours later after an artist protest.

OpenAI granted around 300 visual artists and filmmakers early access to its new generative AI video tool, Sora, in order to “gain feedback” on the technology. The company got it in droves, and not in the way it was hoping.

On Tuesday, November 26, a group of Sora testers released a version of the tool publicly along with a manifesto decrying the program as exploitative and “more about PR and advertisement.” The artists also said OpenAI cut off access to Sora only three hours after the artists leaked it publicly online.

“We received access to Sora with the promise to be early testers, red teamers, and creative partners. However, we believe instead we are being lured into ‘art washing’ to tell the world that Sora is a useful tool for artists,” they wrote in an open letter addressed to “Corporate AI Overlords.”

“Artists are not your unpaid R&D,” they continue. “We are not your: free bug testers, PR puppets, training data, validation tokens.”

“We are not against the use of AI technology as a tool for the arts (if we were, we probably wouldn’t have been invited to this program),” the artists explain. “What we don’t agree with is how this artist program has been rolled out and how the tool is shaping up ahead of a possible public release. We are sharing this to the world in the hopes that OpenAI becomes more open, more artist friendly, and supports the arts beyond PR stunts.”

Chiefly, the artists take issue with OpenAI — which recently raised $6.6 billion from investors like Nvidia and Microsoft at a valuation of over $150 billion — for having hundreds of artists provide unpaid testing and feedback. They also object to the company’s content approval requirements for Sora, which reportedly state that “every output needs to be approved by the OpenAI team before sharing.”

While OpenAI has not confirmed whether the Sora leak was “authentic” or some sort of publicity stunt in its own right, the company told The Verge that participation in the “research preview” is voluntary, “with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool.”

“Sora is still in research preview, and we’re working to balance creativity with robust safety measures for broader use,” said OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix. “Hundreds of artists in our alpha have shaped Sora’s development, helping prioritize new features and safeguards. Participation is voluntary, with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool. We’ve been excited to offer these artists free access and will continue supporting them through grants, events, and other programs. We believe AI can be a powerful creative tool and are committed to making Sora both useful and safe.”

Meanwhile, former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that Sora would be available by the end of the year, but “we will not release anything we don’t feel confident on when it comes to how it might affect global elections or other issues.” The company has also confirmed that Sora hadn’t been released yet because they still needed to “scale” the requirements to power it, and “get safety/impersonation/other things right.”

OpenAI has provided funding for several artists, such as through the Tribeca Festival’s Sora Shorts program, which commissioned five filmmakers to create short films using the model that were screened at this year’s festival.