OpenAI suspends Sora’s Martin Luther King generations following outrage

OpenAI has paused its artificial intelligence (AI) video generator, Sora, from creating videos of Martin Luther King Jr. following backlash over disrespectful portrayals of the American civil rights leader.

The decision came after a request from King’s estate. In a post on social media, the Sam Altman-led company stated that some users had used Sora to create “disrespectful depictions of Dr. King’s image.”

The company stated that it is now working with King’s estate and has temporarily disabled the ability to generate videos of him.

The company added that it is strengthening “guardrails for historical figures” to prevent similar issues in the future.

While it emphasised the importance of free expression in depicting historical personalities, the company acknowledged that families and estate owners should have the right to control their likeness.

According to OpenAI, representatives of public figures can now request that their likeness not be used in Sora-generated clips, making the process opt-out rather than automatic.

Although King’s estate has not yet commented, his daughter, Bernice King, recently called out AI-generated videos of her father.

She reposted a Variety article about Robin Williams’ daughter objecting to similar AI creations, writing, “I concur concerning my father. Please stop.”

For those uninitiated, Sora’s latest version, released recently in the US and Canada, has gained rapid popularity but its use in generating deceased public figures has reignited debate over ethics in AI creativity.