Ethical questions arise over OpenAI's new video app as it hits 1 million downloads

OpenAI’s latest text-to-video artificial intelligence tool, Sora, has become one of the company’s fastest-growing products, reaching over one million downloads in less than five days—surpassing the early growth of ChatGPT. News of the app, which allows users to generate ten-second realistic videos from simple text prompts, quickly spread across the globe, with its videos becoming viral on social media. However, they not only bring free advertising but also an array of controversies. 

The milestone was announced by Sora chief Bill Peebles on X, who credited the app’s “surging growth” to strong user engagement despite its limited availability. At launch, Sora was accessible only to invited users in North America, yet the restricted rollout did little to slow its viral spread, as reported by CNBC News.

Sora’s success has also fuelled a flood of AI-generated videos on social media, as the app allows seamless sharing of user creations. However, this rapid rise has brought controversy—particularly concerning copyright violations and the unauthorized depiction of deceased public figures. Among the most prominent examples were videos featuring late celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur and Robin Williams.

Zelda Williams, daughter of the late US actor, publicly appealed for people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her father. Her plea reignited broader discussions about the ethical boundaries of recreating deceased individuals through AI.

In response to criticism, an OpenAI spokesperson said that there were “strong free speech interests” in allowing the depiction of historical figures. However, they clarified that relatives or authorized representatives of “recently deceased” individuals could request that likenesses not be used—though the company did not specify how “recent” was defined.

These ethical questions have emerged alongside mounting legal scrutiny across the AI industry. Rival firm Anthropic recently agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action lawsuit from authors who alleged the company used their copyrighted works without permission to train its AI models. The settlement has intensified pressure on other companies, including OpenAI, to address copyright concerns more transparently.

Concerns from the entertainment industry have been particularly strong. A CNBC investigation found that users could easily generate videos featuring well-known characters from shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Rick and Morty, and South Park. The Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents the film and television industry, released a statement condemning the spread of such content on OpenAI’s platform.

“Videos that infringe our members’ films, shows, and characters have proliferated on OpenAI’s service,” said MPA CEO Charles Rivkin. He urged OpenAI to take “immediate and decisive action” to address the issue, emphasizing that “well-established copyright law safeguards the rights of creators and applies here.”

In a blog post on October 4, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the growing concerns surrounding Sora’s content generation. He wrote that the company had been “learning quickly from how people are using Sora and taking feedback from users, rights holders, and other interested groups.” Altman said OpenAI plans to provide rights holders with “more granular control” over the creation of characters and hinted at the possibility of a future revenue-sharing system for original content creators.

Altman also suggested that Sora videos might be viewed as a new form of “interactive fan fiction,” potentially opening a creative grey area for fans and creators alike. However, legal experts and rights holders remain skeptical. The core question—whether Sora-generated content qualifies as creative reinterpretation or copyright infringement—could ultimately be tested in court.

By Nazrin Sadigova