Sora 2, the OpenAI app known for its deepfake videos of celebrities and influencers, is pausing users’ ability to re-create Martin Luther King Jr.’s likeness after his daughter, Bernice A. King, claimed his image was being used in a “demeaning, disjointed” way.
In response to the “disrespectful depictions” of King Jr. Generated by users on the Sora 2 app, OpenAI claimed it is strengthening its guardrails for how users depict historical figures, the company said in a joint statement with the King estate.
While the company claimed there are free speech interests in depicting historical figures, it said “public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used. Authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.” It was not immediately clear how these standards would distinguish between who would be considered a public or historical figure, or if people would have to make requests to OpenAI on a case-by-case basis.
The younger King, who is also a lawyer, minister, and CEO of the King Center, the nonprofit founded by her mother, Coretta Scott King, after King Jr.’s assassination in 1968, said she did not like the way users depicted her father.
“For me, many of the AI depictions never rose to the level of free speech. They were foolishness,” she wrote in a post on X.
The younger King added that King Jr. Was not an elected official and his image isn’t public domain. She noted that many states allow estates of deceased people to inherit and control a person’s likeness and how it’s used for up to 100 years after their death to avoid unauthorized commercial exploitation.
The Sora 2 app was released late last month and has already caused controversy for its uncanny ability to create realistic videos generated by AI. Last week, Creative Artists Agency, which represents actors like Scarlett Johansson and Brad Pitt, as well as United Talent Agency, which represents Greta Gerwig and Ben Stiller, opted their clients out of Sora 2, with scathing statements. United Talent Agency called the app “exploitation, not innovation,” while Creative Artists Agency said the app “exposes our clients and their intellectual property to significant risk,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Some celebrities, though, have given OpenAI the go-ahead to have their image manipulated in AI-generated videos on Sora 2. An AI clone of influencer and boxer Jake Paul has been featured being confronted by police over a fake hit-and-run, causing a scene on an airplane, and putting on colorful makeup.
Paul, for his part, has seemingly embraced the new crop of AI-generated videos. He reportedly posted an AI video of himself having a meltdown at Starbucks to his personal Instagram Story. The caption: “Surprised someone got this on camera this morning—what happened to privacy?”