Protesting Artists Leaked Access to OpenAI’s Sora Video Tool

Another "leak" has hit the AI giant OpenAI as artists shared access to the yet-to-be-officially-revealed video generator, Sora, in protest against "corporate AI overlords."

After public access to the video tool was made available, the artists claimed that OpenAI temporarily shut down Sora's early access for all participants. According to a letter from the art activists, around 300 artists were given the opportunity to test Sora for free.

While branded publicly as a leak, technically, this protest act was not one, as the artists didn’t access OpenAI's code. Instead, a webpage was created to grant everyone access to Sora.

In any case, the protestors emphasized that they are not opposed to using AI technology as a tool for the arts. What they "don’t agree with is how this artist program has been rolled out and how the tool is shaping up ahead of a possible public release."

"We are sharing this with the world in the hopes that OpenAI becomes more open, more artist-friendly, and supports the arts beyond PR stunts," they added, noting that they felt lured into "art washing" to promote Sora as a useful tool for artists.

"Hundreds of artists provide unpaid labor through bug testing, feedback, and experimental work for a company valued at $150 billion," they said. Moreover, according to them, a select few artists will be chosen through a competition to have their Sora-created films screened.

"This early access program appears to be less about creative expression and critique, and more about PR and advertisement,"

the artists concluded.

The protestors have also encouraged fellow artists to train their own models using their own datasets.

At the time of writing, the letter, published on November 26, has 850 signatures, of which 560 are verified.