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Journalism of Courage
OpenAI’s highly anticipated text-to-video generation model, Sora, may take longer to become available. The Sam Altman-led company has reportedly suspended access to Sora after a group of artists leaked access to the tool.
According to reports, the group of artists was unhappy with OpenAI’s treatment of creative professionals who are testing the tool with minimal pay. The aggrieved artists said that they were being used as ‘PR puppets’ by the company.
Nearly nine months ago, OpenAI took the internet by storm after it introduced Sora, a groundbreaking text-to-video generator that is capable of creating short and high-fidelity videos that last for a minute. As of November, Sora is unreleased, however, the unfolding drama at OpenAI seems to have further delayed the company’s plans to officially launch the much-hyped tool.
Hundreds of artists have been given free access to Sora by OpenAI to test the model. However, 20 artists with access claimed that the company took advantage of their unpaid labour and was using them to improve the company’s image. In their bid to call out OpenAI’s practices, the group of artists shared an online tool that allowed the public to use Sora to generate videos.
In a post on Hugging Face, the group said that hundreds of artists provide unpaid labour through bug testing, feedback, and experimental work for the program for a $150 B valued company. The artists claimed that the minimal pay offered to them ‘pales in comparison to the substantial PR and marketing value OpenAI receives.’
The artists said that Sora was publicly accessible for three hours following which OpenAI shut down the interface. After the access was paused, the group floated an open letter asking anyone who shares their views to sign it.
OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix said that OpenAI has temporarily paused all user access to Sora while it was looking into the incident. “Hundreds of artists in our alpha have shaped Sora’s development, helping prioritize new features and safeguards,” OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix wrote in a statement from OpenAI adding that participation is voluntary, with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool.
