This week, a group calling themselves “Sora PR Puppets” leaked access to OpenAI’s Sora, its highly-anticipated video generation tool, in a bold act of protest. Using early access authentication tokens, they created a frontend on Hugging Face, allowing anyone to generate 10-second, 1080p videos with the system before OpenAI swiftly shut it down. While the leak only lasted a few hours, it highlighted ongoing dissatisfaction with OpenAI’s approach to Sora’s development and artist collaboration.
According to the group, the protest stemmed from frustrations over OpenAI’s alleged “art washing.” They claim that early testers, including artists and red teamers, were being used for unpaid labor to enhance Sora’s capabilities while being tightly controlled by OpenAI. Testers reportedly had their outputs approved by OpenAI before sharing, and only a few selected creators would see their work publicized, raising concerns about transparency and artistic freedom.
Sora’s Specs and Challenges:
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Max Resolution | 1080p |
| Clip Length | 10 seconds |
| Processing Speed | Improved from earlier versions |
| Customization Options | Limited but includes style controls |
| Dataset | Millions of hours of video clips |
While this leaked version, dubbed a “turbo” variant, performed faster than earlier iterations, challenges remain. Early Sora models required more than 10 minutes to generate a one-minute video clip, and issues like maintaining consistent styles and objects across scenes persisted. To address this, OpenAI has trained Sora on a vast dataset, but questions about performance and scalability linger.
A Troubled Rollout Amid Rising Competition
Beyond technical setbacks, OpenAI faces growing competition in the generative video space. Rivals like Runway, with its collaboration with Lionsgate, and Stability AI, supported by “Avatar” director James Cameron, have made significant strides. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Sora has yet to secure similar high-profile partnerships, despite demos at Cannes and meetings with Hollywood filmmakers earlier this year.
The protest by “Sora PR Puppets” adds another layer of controversy to Sora’s development, calling attention to the ethical challenges in the relationship between tech companies and the creative community. While OpenAI works to refine Sora, the question remains: will it achieve its ambitious vision while earning the trust of its collaborators?
