OpenAI's Sora Video Model Reportedly Leaked by a Collective of Artists

OpenAI's Sora video generation model, which was unveiled in February but has not been released yet, appears to have been briefly leaked online. On Tuesday, an anonymous group hosted an artificial intelligence (AI) video model on Hugging Face and claimed it to be OpenAI's Sora. The model details highlighted that the backend server was the AI firm's domain, and the model name suggested it was the Turbo variant. The AI model was said to be listed on the platform for three hours before its access was removed.

OpenAI Sora AI Video Model Might Have Been Leaked

A Hugging Face listing appeared on November 26 and claimed to be publicly giving access to OpenAI's Sora model. The anonymous group behind the move also created a front-end using which anyone could generate AI videos. While Gadgets 360 staff members were not able to generate videos using it, several social media users have posted videos generated using the tool.

The AI model could generate 10-second-long videos in 1080p resolution and the videos carried the distinct OpenAI watermark, which led to the belief that the group's claim about it being Sora was likely true. Other evidence pointing towards it being Sora includes the backend server which was listed as “https://sora.openai.com/backend/video_gen” and the variant name mentioned as “Turbo”.

Explaining the reason behind leaking and posting the early version of Sora online, the group said that OpenAI used artists as “unpaid R&D” and made them provide the company with free bug tests, training data, validation tokens, and positive marketing.

“Hundreds of artists provide unpaid labour through bug testing, feedback and experimental work for the program[..]offering minimal compensation which pales in comparison to the substantial PR and marketing value OpenAI receives,” it said on the Hugging Face listing.

The group also said that while they were not against the use of AI as a tool for art, they did not agree with OpenAI's artist programme. The group added that this was their way to urge the company to be more open, artist-friendly, and supportive of art. They also shared a petition that can be signed by those who agree with the message.

Notably, the group was part of the three hundred artists who received unlimited access to Sora to be its early testers, red teamers, and creative partners. For three hours, the front-end of the AI model was said to be working, then the group highlighted that the AI firm had shut down Sora's early access for all artists.

A company spokesperson told TechCrunch that Sora remains in a research preview as OpenAI works to balance the AI model's performance with robust safety measures. The spokesperson also added that participation as an early tester is voluntary “with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool.” The artists were asked to use the AI model responsibly and refrain from sharing confidential details till the model's launch, the statement concluded.