The Sora 2 ‘SlopTok’ Backlash

OpenAI forged ahead with the release of its Sora app powered by Sora 2, despite ethical and legal concerns. Now, creators who have accessed the app are sharing their feelings on the platform dubbed SlopTok.

The invite-only video generation app eclipsed one million downloads in less than a week after its release. But the company has already altered its "opt-out" policy for fear of legal ramifications and prominent creators are noting Sora's very existence may indicate a rocky future for OpenAI. 

What Is SlopTok, AKA Sora

Sora 2 is the latest generative AI model (accessed via the Sora app) released by artificial intelligence company OpenAI. It's an app that lives on your phone and allows users to generate videos based on real humans (including yourself), which are then inserted into a scrollable feed, like TikTok or Instagram. 

Essentially, it's a form of TikTok where the only content allowed is AI-generated videos. It quickly earned the nickname SlopTok based off a combination of the seemingly inane and pointless content dominating the platform and its scrollable feed feature. 

When it was first released, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said users would need to explicitly opt-out their content from being included in generated video. Altman quickly backtracked on that statement following strong statements from organizations like the Motion Picture Association Of America. Now, he says rights holders must opt-in their content in order for it to be used by the model for generation. 

But that may not be enough — and users may have already infringed upon some of the most valuable IP in the world by creating unlicensed videos of famous characters and people owned by huge companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Nintendo.

OpenAI's most-used product is ChatGPT, which the company says boasts roughly 800 million weekly users. However, the Sora app reached one million downloads faster than ChatGPT did, according to head of Sora Bill Peebles. 

What Celebrities Are Saying

Some famous people have already opted into the model, most notably Jake Paul. But most major rights holders, talent agencies, and academics have sounded the alarm against opting your likeness into the platform. William Morris Endeavor opted its entire client roster out of the platform. Other talent agencies have railed against the platform, calling it "exploitation, not innovation."

Director and actress Zelda Williams went viral with her criticism of AI-generating videos. In particular, she told people to stop sending her videos of her late father, Robin Williams. 

"To watch the legacies of real people be condensed down to, 'This vaguely looks and sounds like them so that's enough,' just so other people can churn out horrible TikTok slop puppeteering them is maddening," Williams said. "You're not making art, you're making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings, out of the history of art and music, and then shoving them down someone else's throat hoping they'll give you a little thumbs up and like it. Gross."

The criticism from Williams and others related to deceased celebrities and icons like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tupac Shakur is credited for being part of the reason OpenAI relented on its opt-out policy. 

The Most Brutal Takedown Of SlopTok So Far

Perhaps the most reasoned and brutal takedown of SlopTok so far comes from Hank Green, author, entrepreneur, YouTuber, and science aficionado. In a three minute and twenty second YouTube video titled "Give Me A Single Reason Why Sora 2 Should Exist," Green shares his experience on the platform. 

"Anybody who scrolls SlopTok for fun needs to reexamine how they interact with media," Green says at the onset of the video. He points out that the Internet is already filled with so much good genuine content that engaging with Sora adds nothing but fast-fading novelty. 

More importantly, however, he notes that these new feed-based platforms and features hint towards a troubling reality for OpenAI: they are clearly preparing these products to support ads. "If the business model of OpenAI is advertising, then it's nothing," Green says. "The business model was supposed to be, '40% of people lose their jobs and we do it for you at a fraction of the cost.' And in that world, maybe it's worth half a trillion dollars. In that world, maybe Nvidia is worth the entire pharmaceutical industry combined. Maybe. But Nvidia is definitely not worth the entire pharmaceutical industry combined if the business model is making SlopTok worse by putting slop advertisements in it." 

Green then notes the apparent illegality of generating videos of people like MLK Jr. saying and doing things they never said or did. "OpenAI launched a lawsuit magnet into the world," Green says. Then in perhaps his funniest (and least characteristic) moment yet, Green summarizes the complete ethical shortcomings and seeming lack of responsibility from OpenAI. 

"If you are the kind of mother****** who will create SlopTok, you are not the kind of mother****** who should be in charge of OpenAI," Green says. 

While his may be the most entertaining take so far on Sora, there does seem to be a consensus among many creators that spending time on the platform just, well, sucks. And if your favorite creators aren't on Sora, the novelty and its sense of social connectedness wears off very quickly. 

SlopTok is certainly a big concern, but if Green is right that its very existence signals some commercial flailing by OpenAI, it may flame out faster than platforms people actually really liked, such as Vine.