OpenAI’s Sora app goes after TikTok, Meta

By
Nat Rubio-Licht

Oct 3, 2025

2:25am UTC

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We’ve come a long way from Will Smith eating spaghetti.

On Tuesday, OpenAI debuted its second-generation Sora video model, which the company has called “the GPT‑3.5 moment for video,” with improved world simulation capabilities, a better understanding of physics and more user controllability.

Alongside the launch of Sora 2 came the Sora app, a social media platform designed for users to create and share AI-generated videos, potentially challenging TikTok’s dominance in short-form video. In addition to creating entirely AI-generated content, the app has a cameo feature that allows users to cast themselves and their friends in their AI creations.

The launch comes just days after the debut of Meta’s Vibes, a short-form AI video app that has been widely criticized for hocking AI slop. While Sora is currently invite-only, the user response has been kinder, at least so far.

“It is easy to imagine the degenerate case of AI video generation that ends up with us all being sucked into an RL-optimized slop feed,” CEO Sam Altman said on his personal blog. “The team has put great care and thought into trying to figure out how to make a delightful product that doesn’t fall into that trap.”

However, while CEO Sam Altman said on his personal blog that creativity is on the verge of a “cambrian explosion,” Sora so far has been the birthplace of quite a few dupes.

Reporter Alex Heath said in his newsletter that while he wasn’t able to render “Superman” when prompted, he created a lookalike with the prompt “flying superhero with a red cape.” A Twitter user was also able to create a Hamilton rip-off in Sora. 

Altman noted in his blog that one of the “mitigations” in the Sora app is deepfake and likeness misuse prevention. However, as several AI companies face legal battles with artists and creators over copyright infringement, these new and improved video models could add fuel to the fire.