What to know about OpenAI’s new AI video app Sora that could rival TikTok

OpenAI has announced its next-generation audio and video generator called Sora 2, but it also teased a new social platform that might rival TikTok.

Here is everything we know about the latest developments. 

On Tuesday, the company showed off its video-making tech, which is powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Users will be able to make almost any scenario come to life with a simple prompt once they film themselves with audio on the Sora app–effectively, creating their own deepfakes.

For example, one demonstration video featured an ice skater gliding across the ice and then performing a triple axel – all while holding a cat on her head. 

Another showed a realistic-looking man backflipping on a paddleboard, complete with splashes.

“Prior video models are overoptimistic—they will morph objects and deform reality to successfully execute upon a text prompt,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post.

The original Sora tool launched last year, but the latest version is better at generating more complex movements, the company said. 

The new Sora app aims to serve as a social platform for AI-generated videos. 

The app will allow users to view and edit AI-generated video clips and feature friends who are also registered on the app.

However, OpenAI said there are robust protections and identity safeguard measures in place to prevent someone's identity from being inserted into AI videos without their consent.

‘Protecting the wellbeing of teens’

The app has a similar feeling to TikTok in that it has a vertical video feed with a swipe-to-scroll navigation. 

However, OpenAI said that the app will prioritise the discovery of videos that may inspire creativity, rather than focusing on maximising time scrolling.   

“We are giving users the tools and optionality to be in control of what they see on the feed,” the company said. 

“Using OpenAI's existing large language models, we have developed a new class of recommender algorithms that can be instructed through natural language,” it added. 

The company also said that protecting the “wellbeing of teens” is important to the company, so there are default limits on how many generations teens can see per day in their feeds.

It also said there are “stricter permissions on cameos for this group” and that OpenAI is adding human moderators “to quickly review cases of bullying if they arise”. 

Sora is, for the moment, invite-only, and will be available first on iOS in the United States and Canada.