- OpenAI launched its Sora AI video app on Android
- Sora lets you create AI-generated videos from text prompts
- You can create digital avatars of yourself, your pets, or real-world objects to feature in your videos.
OpenAI’s new video social app Sora AI is now officially available on Android after a spectacular debut on iOS several weeks ago. Its flow on iOS saw more than 1 million downloads in its first five days on the App Store in September.
Sora has climbed the rankings faster than the original ChatGPT mobile app and could do the same on Google Play.
This debut turned heads not only because of the novelty of AI-generated videos, but also because they went viral so quickly. Now, with the ability for Android users to participate, Sora’s potential reach has skyrocketed.
iOS is a significant part of the smartphone ecosystem, but Android powers around 70% of the world’s smartphones. This means that the mainstream era of AI videos teased by Google and Meta has now truly arrived.
Like its iOS counterpart, the Android version of Sora is much more than just image-to-video generation. The app includes a TikTok-style feed of AI-generated clips produced by other users, as well as the Cameo tool, allowing users to star in their own videos.
New tools are also rolling out regularly, including reusable avatars of pets and real-world objects called Character Cameos, and users can remix videos they see on the feed with new prompts and characters.
Sora’s star shines
This attractive feature is also a source of criticism for how Sora handles likenesses, depictions of public figures, and copyrighted characters. After enough complaints, OpenAI reversed its opt-out policy for people and rights holders who did not want their image used in Sora. You now need explicit consent for cameos involving well-known characters or individuals. The company might even allow rights holders to charge additional fees for the use of specific people or characters in the future.
Still, Sora’s momentum suggests there’s a real appetite for what Sora offers. The launch of Android means that the volume of content is likely to increase exponentially, although the distribution of quality will likely mean that much of it will be mediocre at best.
Sure, you can create scenes in seconds with a few sentences that previously required days or weeks of design and work with traditional editing software, but democratizing the potential of content creation doesn’t mean that creative or innovative ideas are suddenly more common.
This also creates challenges around authenticity and attribution. When everyone can create compelling video content, what happens to our ability to verify what is real, or even who is real?
As Sora becomes more widespread, the pressure to put ethical safeguards in place from the start will only increase. If you see a video of you saying things you never said in a place that doesn’t exist, you probably would want some protection too.
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