A group of 16 artists revealed OpenAI’s unreleased text-to-video generator, Sora, to the public on Tuesday, claiming that their involvement in the project was exploited as “unpaid labor.” The artists, who had been granted early access to the tool for testing purposes, shared their frustrations in an open letter addressed to “Corporate AI Overlords” and posted on the AI hosting platform Hugging Face.
In the letter, the artists clarified that they were not opposed to the use of AI in creative processes and that they had initially agreed to participate in the early testing program alongside about 300 other artists. However, their views shifted after they accused OpenAI of using their feedback not for artistic refinement, but to promote Sora as a valuable tool for other artists. They argued that their contributions amounted to free research and development labor for a company valued at $150 billion.
“Artists are not your unpaid R&D,” the letter stated. “Hundreds of artists provide unpaid labor through bug testing, feedback, and experimental work for the program, while OpenAI reaps the benefits.”
The artists also took issue with OpenAI’s control over the dissemination of videos generated by Sora, claiming the company required approval before any of the videos could be shared publicly. They argued that this process shifted the focus of the early access program from creative exploration and critique to free publicity for OpenAI. “We are not PR puppets,” they wrote, expressing their dissatisfaction with the company’s approach.
In protest, the artists leaked the Sora generator to the public, making it available for a broader user base to experiment with the tool for free. The leak, which lasted only three hours, prompted OpenAI to shut down early access to Sora. The version posted to Hugging Face is no longer functional.
This incident has raised questions about the ethics of using unpaid labor in AI development and the growing tension between corporations and artists who contribute to the creative training of AI technologies.
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