OpenAI’s new app and social network, Sora, has quickly gained massive attention. According to Sora’s head, Bill Peebles, the app has been downloaded over one million times in less than five days. That’s even faster than ChatGPT. This achievement is notable because the app is currently available only in North America and requires an invite to use.
Sora is a video app that works like TikTok. But the app only offers AI-generated videos. Instead of uploading real clips, users create videos by typing text prompts into OpenAI’s Sora 2 model. The app then generates a short video based on prompts.
Sora also includes a unique Cameo feature, which allows users to create videos featuring themselves or anyone who has agreed to share their likeness with the service. This makes it possible to create realistic, personalized clips in seconds.
Despite its popularity, Sora has already faced some controversy. The app’s limited content guardrails have led to the creation of videos featuring OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and characters that violate copyright laws. To solve this, OpenAI has begun rolling out new controls within Sora. Users can now decide how their likeness can appear in generated videos.
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, also confirmed that the company plans to offer similar features to copyright holders. These will allow creators and rights owners to specify how their characters or content can be used.
While Sora’s one million downloads mark an incredible milestone, it is unclear how many users are actively using the app since it still operates through an invite system.
