Launch of OpenAI’s Sora faces traffic struggles, delayed access

The news: This week, OpenAI’s Sora model finally launched to the public, 10 months after its initial preview. However, most of the public still can’t access it.

• The video-generation model can create videos up to 20 seconds long from either text instructions or a still image, replace elements or remove them, blend separate clips together, and create video loops.
• The kickoff has been rocky so far—Sora account creation has been disabled since Monday due to heavy traffic, blocking users from signing in or testing it.

Sora isn’t available in the UK and the EU, and complex regulations could prevent it from being offered at all.

The competition: While a 20-second video clip is no feature-length film, Sora’s content capabilities surpass competitors’ offerings.

• Adobe’s generative AI (genAI) tools include a text-to-video and an image-to-video tool that can each create up to 5 seconds of content.
• Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) new family of genAI models, announced last week, can make videos up to 6 seconds long.

Deepfake mitigation: Sora disabled the ability for users to make videos based on an uploaded photo or video of a real person in an effort to prevent deepfakes or unwanted generations of someone’s likeness.

• Artists highly requested that option, according to OpenAI, but the company decided the potential for misuse was too high.
• Only a “subset” of users can upload content of real people now, pending more testing on OpenAI’s end.

OpenAI also adds a watermark to Sora videos, which can only be removed by Plus account users. A Plus account is $200 per month, compared with $20 per month for a Pro account.

Worth the cost? A watermark might not be so unsightly that a user would drop an additional $180 a month to delete it. Larger enterprises might be willing to pay for Plus, but the price tag could deter smaller businesses or independent artists.

Our take: Considering the time it took for Sora to be released to the public, OpenAI should have been prepared for a predictable influx of traffic. Days after the launch, it’s still not accessible.

While Sora could be a fun offering for casual users, its adoption by artists or advertisers will depend on audiences’ reaction to AI-generated media content.

(Source: OpenAI)

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