'A ChatGPT for creativity moment...,' Sam Altman explains why OpenAI launched Sora, a new social app

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

OpenAI has unveiled Sora, a new iOS app powered by the company’s video generation model Sora 2, which it hopes will mark a “ChatGPT for creativity” moment. For Sam Altman, this isn’t just another product launch—it’s about redefining how people create and connect.

“There is something great about making it really easy and fast to go from idea to result, and the new social dynamics that emerge,” Altman said in a note announcing the app. He likened the launch to a new chapter for creativity, one that could trigger a “Cambrian explosion” in art and entertainment.

At the centre of Sora is cameos, a feature that lets people place themselves or friends into AI-generated scenes with character consistency. “It’s been striking to many of us how open the playing field suddenly feels,” Altman wrote. “The ability to put yourself and your friends into a video… is a surprisingly compelling new way to connect.”

Altman, rightly, isn’t blind to the risks. “Social media has had some good effects on the world, but it’s also had some bad ones,” he admitted. “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.”

To avoid that fate, OpenAI has outlined guiding principles: optimise for long-term user satisfaction, encourage feed control, prioritise creation, and help users achieve their real goals. “The majority of users, looking back on the past six months, should feel that their life is better for using Sora than it would have been if they hadn’t,” Altman said.

Safeguards include consent-based likeness protection, teen usage limits, mood and wellbeing checks, and content moderation. Altman stressed that the company will adjust as it learns: “We are sure we will discover new things we need to do if Sora becomes very successful. If we can’t fix it, we would discontinue offering the service.”

For now, Altman sees Sora as an experiment in responsible social design. “We want to make it easy and rewarding for everyone to participate in the creation process,” he said. “People are natural-born creators, and creating is important to our satisfaction.”