OpenAI closes Sora, the viral video app made with artificial intelligence that sparked fears of realistic deepfakes

The company said in a statement that it was “saying goodbye to the Sora app” and that it will soon release more information about how to preserve the material that users had already created in the application.

“What they did with Sora was important, and We know this news is disappointing.”, indicated the company.

The company behind ChatGPT launched Sora in September as an attempt to capture the attention — and advertising revenue — that comes with short form videos on TikTok, YouTube or Instagram and Facebook.

But a growing group of activists, academics and experts expressed his concern about the risks of allowing people to create AI videos about practically anything that you can write in an instruction, which led to a proliferation of non-consensual images and realistic deepfakes in a sea of ​​less harmful “AI junk.”

OpenAI found itself forced to restrict AI creations of public figures — like Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mister Rogers — doing crazy things, but only after receiving criticism from his estate and an actors union.

Disney, which last year reached an agreement with OpenAI to bring its characters to Sora, said in a statement on Tuesday that it respects “OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and change its priorities to other areas.”

“We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it, and we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to reach fans wherever they are, while responsibly adopting new technologies that respect intellectual property and creators’ rights,” Disney said in its statement.