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Artists Leak OpenAI’s Sora Video Tool in Protest, Accusing Company of Using Them for PR Gains

OpenAI paused its highly anticipated video generation tool Sora following protests by some artists over what they consider exploitative practices. In this case, protests centered on how the firm handled beta testers invited into the fold initially as potential creative partners but felt after some time their contributions went more towards marketing rather than meaningful input.

Earlier this week, a group of artists leaked access to Sora's API in defiance. They have accused OpenAI of exploiting the work of the artists and turning them into "PR puppets" to promote the tool's image. The leak has been used by users for experimentation, and within no time, the social media is witnessing a flurry of activity where clips of AI-generated videos have gained much importance.

Artists Protest AI Tool Sora's Lack of Collaboration

The artists who participated alleged that they were assured the opportunity to define Sora as an artist-friendly tool but received the opposite. The work that was to be put in with the artists for collaborative development instead turned out to be more of a marketing campaign. One protestor said, "It's all about the image, not the artists."

In response to the leak, OpenAI suspended access to Sora. The company emphasized that the tool was still in the research preview phase and stated that it was investigating the situation. While the pause went into effect, OpenAI continued to claim that its goal was to create a valuable and safe creative tool for users, and that all of the hundreds of artists thought to be on board have been volunteering their work.

However, this protest raised issues regarding the relationship between AI companies and creative professionals. Artists posted an open letter on the Hugging Face platform that criticized the lack of true collaboration from the company and urged better recognition of creative labor in tech.

AI tools are being used in the creative industries has become a sign of growing tensions. While the AI companies continue to innovate, they will be asking themselves a question: How can they ensure artists putting together these cutting-edge technologies will get a fair and respectful treatment?