Artists say they leaked OpenAI’s Sora video model in protest

OpenAI first teased its text-to-video AI model, Sora, back in February and hasn’t provided any meaningful updates on when it will be released since then. Now, it looks like some artists leaked access to the model in protest of being used by the company for what they claim is “unpaid R&D and PR.”

On Tuesday, a group of Sora beta testers claimed to have leaked early access to Sora with a working interface for generating videos. In a post on Hugging Face, a public repository of AI models, they say that people were able to create lots of AI videos — all of which resemble OpenAI’s own Sora demos — before the company intervened to shut down access.

DEAR CORPORATE AI OVERLORDS

We received access to Sora with the promise to be early testers, red teamers and creative partners. However, we believe instead we are being lured into “art washing” to tell the world that Sora is a useful tool for artists.

ARTISTS ARE NOT YOUR UNPAID R&D

☠️ we are not your: free bug testers, PR puppets, training data, validation tokens ☠️

From the group’s open letter:

“We are not against the use of AI technology as a tool for the arts (if we were, we probably wouldn’t have been invited to this program). What we don’t agree with is how this artist program has been rolled out and how the tool is shaping up ahead of a possible public release. We are sharing this to the world in the hopes that OpenAI becomes more open, more artist friendly and supports the arts beyond PR stunts.”

The authors argue that OpenAI's early access program for Sora takes advantage of artists by exploiting their work for free and engaging in "art washing," using artists' credibility to enhance the corporate product. They criticize the company, which recently raised billions at a $150 billion valuation, for relying on hundreds of artists to provide unpaid testing and feedback.

They also take issue with OpenAI's content approval process for Sora, which reportedly mandates that "every output must be approved by the OpenAI team before sharing."

When asked about the authenticity of the alleged Sora leak, OpenAI declined to confirm it. Instead, the company emphasized that participation in its “research preview” is voluntary, with no requirement to provide feedback or use the tool.

“Sora is still in research preview, and we’re working to balance creativity with robust safety measures for broader use,” said OpenAI spokesperson Niko Felix in a statement. “Hundreds of artists in our alpha have shaped Sora’s development, helping prioritize new features and safeguards. Participation is voluntary, with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool. We’ve been excited to offer these artists free access and will continue supporting them through grants, events, and other programs. We believe AI can be a powerful creative tool and are committed to making Sora both useful and safe.”

In March, former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati told *The Wall Street Journal* that Sora would be available by the end of the year but emphasized, “we will not release anything we don’t feel confident about in terms of how it might affect global elections or other issues.” In a recent Reddit AMA, CPO Kevin Weil explained that Sora’s release had been delayed because OpenAI still needed to "scale" the computing power required to support it and ensure safety, impersonation, and other concerns were addressed.