OpenAI is releasing its Sora social video app on Android devices, one month after the artificial intelligence company launched the popular — and controversial — service on iPhone.
The ChatGPT maker on Tuesday announced that Sora would be available on Android in several countries, including the US, Canada and Japan. As with the iPhone release, the app is initially available by invite only, meaning users will need to get a code to begin using it.
OpenAI unveiled the Sora app in late September with the goal of supercharging adoption for AI-generated videos in the same way that ChatGPT did for chatbots. Sora also marked a push by OpenAI to embrace social media products. With Sora, people can quickly use AI to create short videos in response to written prompts, and then share those clips with their friends.
Within days, Sora became the top downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store and currently ranks fifth in that category. In the weeks since Sora’s introduction, OpenAI has expanded the app’s creative capabilities by allowing users to stitch videos together and feature reusable characters across multiple clips.
But OpenAI has also ignited concerns about realistic videos that spread misinformation, enable deepfakes and infringe on copyright protections. Celebrity likenesses appeared in AI-generated clips without consent. Video game characters were shown in high-speed police car chases. And OpenAI had to pause depictions of Martin Luther King Jr. after users generated “disrespectful” deepfake videos of the civil rights leader.
OpenAI said it has responded to complaints by strengthening the guardrails of its Sora 2 model and clamping down on the app’s ability to replicate the voice and likeness of those who haven’t opted into the service. The company said it has also made it easier for estates of public figures to request their likeness not be used in Sora videos.