A group of early testers released an unauthorized leak of OpenAI‘s text-to-video generator, Sora, online, citing grievances over “unpaid labor” and exploitation of creative professionals.
The leak, which appeared on the AI platform Hugging Face under the username PR-Puppets, has ignited a debate on technological innovation, ethical labor practices, and intellectual property rights, with some 380 verified artists and creators from around the world already having signed the accompanying petition.
Access to this early version of Sora was shut down by OpenAI after three hours, however, many individuals had a chance to test it out and generate AI videos, which are now being shared online, including on X (formerly Twitter). One Hugging Face user has archived over 80 videos, providing download links to the videos and their prompt.
Developed by OpenAI, which recently moved to a for-profit model, this “diffusion model” AI is capable of transforming text prompts into high-fidelity videos of up to one minute in length. The model leverages techniques from various AI systems to offer precise text-to-visual alignment.
According to discussions on Hugging Face, Sora is described as “a mesmerizing display of technical prowess,” praised for its ability to produce “visually coherent narratives” that mark a significant milestone in generative AI.
The leak was orchestrated by a group of beta testers, many of whom are visual artists and filmmakers. Posting under the name Sora PR Puppets, the group released the model alongside an open letter addressed to “Corporate AI Overlords.”
They allege that OpenAI, currently valued at over $150 billion, exploited their labor by relying on unpaid or undercompensated contributions to refine Sora.
“This wasn’t just about unpaid work—it was about respect,” noted one anonymous contributor on Hugging Face. “OpenAI treated our input like raw material, not creative expertise. It’s not collaboration; it’s extraction.”
The group contends that artists were invited to provide feedback and experimental work without fair compensation, while OpenAI stood to gain substantial public relations and marketing value from their efforts.
“We received access to Sora with the promise to be early testers, red teamers and creative partners. However, we believe instead we are being lured into ‘art washing’ to tell the world that Sora is a useful tool for artists,” said the open letter.
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