OpenAI is the latest company filling your social media feed with AI — but are the memes worth the harms?

An anime version of Jesus Christ flipping tables. OpenAI employees performing in Hamilton costumes. News anchors discussing a story on television. A man doing a thirst-trap TikTok dance. Sam Altman — stealing GPUs on CCTV, listening to a business pitch, crying.

Such were the contents of my feed on Sora, OpenAI’s new social media app for AI-generated video. The company released the iOS app on Tuesday with the ability to create 10-second videos of virtually anything you can dream up, including “cameos,” or videos featuring your own AI-generated self and anyone else who approves of you using their likeness. OpenAI employees called Sora a potential “ChatGPT moment for video generation” in a briefing with reporters earlier this week. On Friday, Sora topped the list for top free apps in Apple’s App Store.

Already, reception has been mixed. Multiple viral posts juxtaposed the company’s lofty science- and research-related goals and its current release, with the digs becoming so popular that Altman himself had to respond. Many have expressed concern that the ultra-realistic videos incorporating real people are a misinformation nightmare. Others simply call it an AI slop machine.

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