Will a Celebrity Tsunami Hit Sora?
Carly Thomas
This used to be the way of things: an app blows up with early adopter tech people, those people talk about it on other social networks, the tech press starts writing about it, more people join, the broader press starts writing about it, a forward-thinking celebrity joins and that itself becomes a story, and we're off...
The situation with Sora has been a bit different because rather than being just a "silly little social app", it's AI. The destroyer of worlds and livelihoods – especially in both the press and in Hollywood. Oh yes, and it's made by a $500B startup. So the stories – especially the mainstream coverage – is coming earlier.
As I noted today in the newsletter, it felt like we were probably just days away from a celebrity influx on Sora. But actually, I forgot that one was there seemingly from the get-go (no, not Sam Altman):
As most of mainstream Hollywood looks to opt out of OpenAI‘s new AI video app Sora, one content creator and boxer has clearly opted in and appears to be enjoying the free publicity.
Since the launch of Sora 2 at the beginning of October, an app that allows users to generate hyperrealistic clips of not only themselves but also other permitted users, videos have quickly begun to flood social media, specifically TikTok. And there’s one face that is notably being used the most: Jake Paul.
Another interesting wrinkle in the Sora explosion is the fact that it's one thing to join the service, but it's another to open up your likeness to be used in videos – especially if you open it up for anyone to use. Altman doing this was a clever way to show the community he's "one of us". But Paul doing this is another level given his following. And well, there are benefits and risks:
In recent days, it’s been quite difficult to scroll on the popular app and not see an AI video of Paul — from him causing a scene on an airplane to being confronted by police over a hit-and-run. But the most common video theme has been videos of the boxer if he were a gay man who loves fashion and makeup (The real Paul is straight and currently engaged to Olympic speed skater Jutta Leerdam).
But rather than go apeshit about this, Paul seemingly and cleverly has leaned into it:
He posted a TikTok video on Wednesday, saying in a serious tone, “I’ve had it with the AI stuff. It’s affecting my relationship, businesses. People are hitting me up saying, ‘Yo, did you say this? What did you do this for? I can’t believe you did this?’ It’s really affecting things, and honestly, it’s like people need to get a life, so it’s kind of pissing me off. I’m gonna be suing everybody that is continuing to spread these false narratives of me doing shit that I would literally never, ever do. So be ready for lawsuits.” However, as he’s saying all of this, he’s actually putting on makeup, just like in some of the AI videos.
This level of savviness shouldn't surprise anyone – while the article fails to mention it, some may recall that Paul (and his older brother Logan) actually got their start posting to Vine. In fact, they were two of the first Vine "stars" that molded that network. But as Twitter bungled the service, they jumped to YouTube (and then TikTok), and the rest is history. But the point is that Vine, in many ways, is the spiritual grandparent to Sora.
It's enough to make you pause to make a Sora of Paul saying, Bane-style: "You merely adopted the viral video app; I was born in it, molded by it."
As other celebrities trickle in (hi, Mark Cuban), it will be interesting to see how they use it. To they actually make videos, or simply allow themselves to be put into them? Some – many – will say "absolutely not". Undoubtedly many already are. But if the network and product has any staying power (TBD), those that become stars in others' videos will obviously have a unique advantage. As long as they're cool with the anything goes ethos. Which again, many – many – will not be.
And that's maybe for the best. There's definitely a risk on Sora's end if the entire thing is flooded by celebrities just jockeying for position in some fameball game.