OpenAI launched Sora, its text-to-video AI model, on Monday as part of its 12-day “ship-mas” product release series, as The Verge previously reported it would. It’s available today on Sora.com for ChatGPT subscribers in the US and “most other countries,” and a new model, Sora Turbo. This updated model adds features like generating video from text, animating images, and remixing videos.
With a ChatGPT Plus subscription, OpenAI says you can generate up to 50 priority videos (1,000 credits) at resolutions up to 720p with 5-second durations. The $200 per month ChatGPT Pro subscription that launched last week comes with “unlimited generations” and up to 500 priority videos while bumping the resolution to 1080p and the duration to 20 seconds. The more expensive plan also allows subscribers to download videos without a watermark and perform up to five generations simultaneously.
OpenAI first teased its text-to-video AI model, Sora, in February, and earlier today, Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, confirmed the launch with a preview based on his experiences testing Sora so far.
During the livestream, OpenAI showed off Sora’s new explore page with a feed of AI-generated videos created by other community members. The company highlighted a feature called “storyboards” that let you generate videos based on a sequence of prompts, as well as the ability to turn photos into videos. OpenAI also demonstrated a “remix” tool that lets you tweak Sora’s output with a text prompt, along with a way to “blend” two scenes together with AI.
OpenAI says videos generated with Sora will have visible watermarks and C2PA metadata to indicate they’re made with AI. Before uploading an image or video to Sora, OpenAI prompts you to check off an agreement that says what you’re uploading doesn’t contain people under 18, explicit or violent content, and copyrighted material. It says the “misuse of media uploads” could result in an account ban or suspension.
“We obviously have a big target on our back as OpenAI,” OpenAI vice president of research Aditya Ramesh said during the livestream. “We want to prevent illegal activity of Sora, but we also want to balance that with creative expression. We know that… will be an ongoing challenge, we might not get it perfect on day one. We’re starting a little conservative, and so if our moderation doesn’t quite get it right, just give us that feedback.”
If you don’t have a ChatGPT subscription, you’ll still be able to browse through the feed of AI-generated videos created by other people using Sora. While the model will become available in the US and many other countries today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that it may “be a while” for a launch in “most of Europe and the UK.”
The release of Sora comes just a week after a group of artists, who claimed to be part of the company’s alpha testing program, leaked the product in protest of being used by OpenAI for what they claim was “unpaid R&D and PR.”
