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OpenAI said Thursday that it was blocking people from creating videos using the image of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with its Sora app after users created vulgar and racist depictions of him.
The company said it had made the decision at the request of the King Center as well as Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s daughter, who had objected to the videos.
The announcement was another effort by OpenAI to respond to criticism of its tools, which critics say operate with few safeguards.
“Some users generated disrespectful depictions of Dr. King’s image,” OpenAI said in a statement. “OpenAI has paused generations depicting Dr. King as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures.”
OpenAI, which also operates ChatGPT, launched the latest version of Sora on Sept. 30, and it quickly became the most downloaded iPhone app in the United States. The app enables people to create videos from artificial intelligence using simple text prompts.
Users created clips featuring King and other figures making invented remarks that were often vulgar or racist.
People posted other realistic-looking videos that feature dead celebrities, including of Amy Winehouse hosting a cooking show, of Michael Jackson working at Walmart, and of a fake conversation between actors James Gandolfini and Robin Williams.
In response, Zelda Williams, Williams’ daughter, this month urged people to stop using her father’s likeness. “Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” Williams wrote.
King agreed: “I concur concerning my father,” she wrote on social media. “Please stop.”
OpenAI’s response was to say that representatives of dead public figures could request to limit the use of their likeness in Sora’s videos.
“While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used,” OpenAI said Thursday.
More broadly, experts worry that apps like Sora could become breeding grounds for disinformation and abuse. Other strikingly realistic videos made with the app depict ballot fraud, immigration arrests, protests, crimes and attacks on city streets.
Sora, which is able to use the likeness of fictional characters, has raised questions about copyright infringement.
The app has also garnered criticism in Hollywood, with studios expressing concern that videos generated with Sora have already infringed on copyrights of various films, shows and characters.
With Sora, OpenAI has turned toward building a social network after years of focusing more on deeper research applications for artificial intelligence. Building a big user base for Sora could open up new ways of making money for the company, which is not profitable.
