San Francisco: OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, will soon introduce new features in its AI video-generating tool Sora that give copyright holders greater authority over how their characters are used.
Chief Executive Sam Altman announced in a blog post that rights holders, including television and film studios, will gain ‘more granular control’ over character generation. These options will allow them to either block their content from appearing in Sora or permit its use under regulated terms.
The decision comes during growing scrutiny of AI-generated content and its impact on intellectual property rights, as technology companies face increasing pressure to ensure fair compensation for creators while advancing innovation.
Sora update #1:https://t.co/DC9ZpR7cSC
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 4, 2025
Sora, which launched this week as a standalone app in the United States and Canada, enables users to create and share AI-driven videos up to 10 seconds long in a social media-like feed. The app has quickly gained popularity, allowing users to spin videos from both original and copyrighted material.
OpenAI’s copyright policy is expected to heighten tensions in Hollywood. According to sources familiar with the matter, Disney has already opted out, declining to allow its characters and materials to be used within the app.
Alongside the controls, OpenAI will roll out a revenue-sharing model to compensate copyright owners who allow their intellectual property to be used in Sora.
Altman highlighted that the framework will require ‘trial and error’ to refine, but the company plans to test different approaches within Sora before applying a consistent model across its broader suite of AI products.
Altman noted that Sora users are producing far more video content than expected, often for niche audiences, which has accelerated the company’s need to design a monetization system.
The development reflects OpenAI’s deeper push into multimodal AI technologies. Backed by Microsoft, OpenAI had previously released a Sora model for public use last year, positioning itself against rivals such as Meta, which recently introduced its AI short-form video platform Vibes, and Google, which is also building text-to-video systems.
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