Short-form AI videos seem to be the holy grail that all AI-focused tech companies seem to be gravitating towards as they look to quickly garner users amid the AI boom.
Days after Meta launched short-video app Vibes, OpenAI has launched its own short-video app named Sora. Sora lets users create AI-generated short form videos. Sora is powered by OpenAI’s latest video generation model, Sora 2. The Sora iOS app is available on the App Store in the US and Canada.
“Inside the app, you can create, remix, and bring yourself or your friends into the scene through cameos—all within a customizable feed designed just for Sora videos,” OpenAI said on X. “Sora is also the most fun I’ve had with a new product in a long time,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Sora appears to have a TikTok style interface, with vertical video and options to like or comment on the video to the right. Users can create their AI-generated videos using prompts. They can also remix other videos, or bring themselves into their friends’ videos. There also seem to be filters, options to turn videos into cartoons, other interesting effects.
The concept seems remarkably similar to Meta’s Vibes, launched just days ago. Vibes was a feature within Meta AI’s app which allowed users to create short-form videos using AI. Meta had partnered with Midjourney and other companies to bring the videos to life, while OpenAI seems to be using its own Sora 2 model. Google too had shown off its AI video abilities through a platform called Flow TV using Veo 3, but hadn’t allowed users to make their own videos.
It does feel a bit underwhelming for OpenAI to launch a short video app. OpenAI has been talking about how AI can cure cancer and bring world-class education to everyone on the planet, but instead seems to have devoted resources towards building yet another addictive feed for hapless users to binge on. It’s no secret that TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are very popular, but few people could argue that they are a net positive for humanity — these apps serve to numb humans to the world around them while they mindlessly scroll on their phones. And with the power of AI, it appears that tech companies are redoubling their efforts to get their users to be addicted to their devices more than ever.