Nearly after 10 months of first publicly previewed the technology, OpenAI is rolling out an AI system called Sora that can generate realistic-looking videos from text prompts.
OpenAI’s Sora AI Tool to Revolutionize Video Production, Competing with Hollywood Rivals
OpenAI said in a livestreamed presentation that Sora will be available to paid users of chatbot ChatGPT in the US and other markets. The new version of the tool will be able to churn out videos up to 20 seconds in length and offer multiple variations of those clips.
With Sora, OpenAI is working to keep pace with a growing number of startups that now offer tools to spit out short clips quickly and more cheaply than creating video from scratch — potentially upending the livelihoods of many in Hollywood.
The list of rival AI video companies includes Pika, Haiper and Runway, the last of which recently partnered with a studio to train a new AI model and explore how the technology can be used in film production.
In a series of meetings post teasing Sora in February, OpenAI began to court film studios, media executives and talent agencies. OpenAI also granted access to a number of artists, as well as a few big-name actors and directors, to try out the service.
Sora Faces Initial Challenges and Limited Availability as OpenAI Rolls Out New AI Video Tool
Initially, Sora struggled with stray body parts and a mixed understanding of physics. It also required noticeably more time — and computing power — to generate each video than users might be accustomed to with an image generator or chatbot.
The Sora’s availability shall be limited in the start. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that those who pay $20 per month for a ChatGPT Plus subscription will be able to generate 50 videos monthly. Users who pay $200 per month for a ChatGPT Pro subscription will have unlimited access to “slower” generations, he said, and 500 videos created at a faster speed.
Initially, Sora will also not be available in many parts of Europe due to stricter technology regulations.
The company said during the demo of Sora’s new features that the tool can can produce videos from still images and videos as well as text prompts. For instance, a user could upload a video clip and the software will spit out footage to lengthen it.
Sora features a Storyboard option for planning video sequences and a feed to explore videos created by others. This announcement is part of OpenAI’s 12-day livestreamed product events, which began with the launch of the premium ChatGPT Pro, offering unlimited access to its most powerful AI models.
