Sora users create deepfake videos of Martin Luther King making racist depictions
Users of OpenAI's Sora AI video generator created offensive deepfake videos of Martin Luther King Jr., including racist depictions. Following complaints from King's estate and family, OpenAI paused the ability to generate videos of King's likeness and implemented new safeguards.
What happened
Users of OpenAI's Sora AI video generator created disrespectful deepfake videos of Martin Luther King Jr., including clips of him making monkey noises during his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech and others depicting him wrestling with Malcolm X.
Dr. Bernice King, Dr. King's daughter, posted on Instagram asking people to stop sending her AI videos resembling her father. Following a formal request from King's estate, OpenAI announced it paused the ability for users to generate videos resembling Martin Luther King Jr. and implemented new safeguards allowing authorized representatives or estate holders to request that their likeness not be used in Sora-generated content.
Reported impact
The videos caused deep distress to the families of both figures and elicited a strong backlash from the public and from King's estate, citing the harmful and racist nature of such depictions.
Index analysis
The controversy arose because Sora allowed users to create videos from text prompts featuring historical figures without default safeguards to prevent offensive or abusive outputs. The incident demonstrates that OpenAI prioritized launching products with few meaningful safeguards in order to build buzz and gain market share over the safety of users and society.
Governance controls
OpenAI stated that "public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used" and added that "authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos."
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.