OpenAI Blocks Users From Making AI Videos of Martin Luther King Jr.

OpenAI is blocking users from making AI-generated videos of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in its AI video model Sora. The company announced the move Thursday in a joint statement with the King Estate.

According to OpenAI, some users had created “disrespectful depictions” of King. At the request of his estate, the company said it’s pausing users’ ability to generate videos of the activist as it works to “strengthen guardrails for historical figures.”

“While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used,” the company said in the statement.

OpenAI added that authorized representatives or estate owners of other historical figures can now request that their likeness not be used in Sora videos.

OpenAI recently launched its most advanced AI video model, Sora 2, along with a new TikTok-like social media app. The app lets users upload their own likeness, called a cameo, to create AI-generated videos featuring themselves, their friends, celebrities, and fictional characters.

Since its debut just a few weeks ago, OpenAI has already started tweaking how the app works as it tries to navigate the still-murky balance between free expression and the misuse of AI.

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X that the company felt some level of “trepidation” in launching its latest model and social media app.

“Social media has had some good effects on the world, but it’s also had some bad ones,” he wrote.  “We are aware of how addictive a service like this could become, and we can imagine many ways it could be used for bullying.”

It didn’t take long for people to start being weird with Sora. The Washington Post reported that Sora-generated clips of late celebrities like Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, and Whitney Houston have quickly flooded social media. While some are meant as lighthearted tributes, others are more disrespectful.

According to The Post, some users made videos of King making monkey noises during his “I Have a Dream” speech and wrestling with fellow civil rights activist Malcolm X.

Some families of the deceased quickly complained and have asked people to stop sharing AI videos of their relatives.

Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late actor Robin Williams, posted on Instagram earlier this month, urging people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her dad. It’s unclear whether the videos she was referencing were created with Sora, but her post followed the app’s launch.

Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, wrote in her own Instagram post about Williams’s comments, “I concur concerning my father. Please stop.”

OpenAI’s latest move echoes its shift in how it handles copyrighted material.

After initially requiring copyright holders to opt out of having their content appear in Sora-generated videos, Altman announced earlier this month that the company will move to an “opt-in” model that will “give rightsholders more granular control over generation of characters.”