OpenAI recently issued a joint statement with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), actor Bryan Cranston, and several prominent talent agencies, announcing that they will strengthen content protections within the Sora app to strictly prohibit the unauthorized use of personal voices and likenesses. This collaboration aims to address the widespread misuse of deepfake technology and ensure that artists and public figures have control over the use of their images.
Cranston previously publicly stated that Sora users could create fake videos featuring their likenesses without their consent or compensation. Similar complaints have also come from the families of the late actors Robin Williams, George Carlin, and Martin Luther King Jr. Despite OpenAI's opt-in policy requiring explicit permission from living individuals to use their voices and likenesses, technical vulnerabilities have allowed the creation of unauthorized images of individuals like Cranston. To address this, OpenAI has upgraded its technical safeguards and pledged to "promptly respond" to all complaints.
Notably, OpenAI last week adjusted Sora in response to a complaint from the family of Martin Luther King, Jr., and announced it would strengthen controls over the use of images of historical figures. The company emphasized that while depictions of deceased public figures involve free speech, the estate can still request that their image be blocked from generated content. This balancing act protects the dignity of historical figures while also allowing for the expression of technological innovation.
Since its launch on September 30th, Sora has quickly become one of the most popular apps in the Apple App Store. This multi-party collaboration marks a significant step forward in ethical standards and copyright protection for the AI-generated content industry and provides a valuable governance framework for developers of similar technologies.
