People Are Using OpenAI’s Sora to Mock the Dead

It didn’t take long for OpenAI’s new text-to-video conversion app, Sora 2, to become a tasteless deluge of AI.
Besides blatantly copyright-infringing videos of SpongeBob SquarePants cooking blue crystals or entire episodes of South Park, users have found that it’s never been easier to create lifelike AI-powered videos that pose as likenesses of deceased celebrities to mock them years or decades after their death.
It’s a disappointing new low, creeping into a world of online hell that’s too derivative of regression.
The technology has become so convincing that AI-generated clips can be interpreted as historical fact, distorting the legacies of deceased public figures. Many tools have already made it easy to remove Sora 2 watermarks in videos.
The videos often contain a harsh and sarcastic tone. Several clips show famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018, being knocked to the ground by WWE wrestlers or bloodily punched by a UFC fighter.
We also came across a series of clips of Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, stumbling and farting after falling on stage, an apparent mockery of his tragic final performance. The clips also show Presley being egged or dislocating his knee, prompting astonishing reactions from the audience.
Other deceased celebrities receiving the Sora 2 treatment include popular TV personality Fred “Mister Rogers” Rogers, who died in 2003, after losing his temper in an expletive-filled rage — a stark contrast to his calm and collected demeanor.
“Cut! Cut! Is it stopped? Are we stopped?” The stumbling version of Mister Rogers screams. “It’s ridiculous, what’s the matter with you, neighbor?”
Another clip shows Mister Rogers turning on the camera and shouting: “Watch this!”
A video previously shared on X-Twitter shows famous doctor Albert Einstein, who died in 1955, discussing a pink designer handbag.
“They call it luxury,” he says in the clip. “Leather, logo, shiny buckle. They tell you it makes you important, but it costs maybe ten dollars to make.”
A separate video shows Australian zookeeper Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, who died in 2006, sneaking up on a street performer or jumping on an old man feeding pigeons, mimicking his ability to subdue dangerous wildlife.
“Everything is ready, bag in tow,” he told the camera after hugging a man in a suit. “Totally unaware, what a beauty.”
It remains to be seen whether OpenAI will take action to rein in hateful and insulting videos of dead celebrities. In the Sora 2’s safety documents, the company promised to “take measures to prevent photography of public figures.” However, the company said PCMag It “will allow the generation of historical figures.”
Those who represent the estates of celebrities are forced to navigate an enormous legal gray area.
“The challenge for AI is not the law,” said Adam Streisand, a lawyer who has represented many celebrities’ estates. NBC News. “The question is whether a non-AI, human-based judicial process will be able to play whack-a-mole in an almost fifth dimension.”
A spokesman for the Sam Altman-led company told the radio: “We believe that public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their images are used.”
The maker of ChatGPT implied that it was up to properties to stop the barrage of harmful AI-powered videos, echoing the company’s controversial initial decision to have rights holders opt out of displaying copyrighted material in Sora — only to soon reverse course.
“For recently deceased public figures, authorized representatives or owners of their properties can request that their images not be used in Sora’s inscription,” the spokesperson said. nbc.
OpenAI claimed that its “cameograph” feature, which allows users to opt-in to have their faces and voices depicted in AI videos by other users, gives them “complete control” over “overall likeness”.
But even potentially copyright-infringing content is still rampant on the app, potentially deteriorating Hollywood’s already fraught relationship with the AI industry.
Meanwhile, friends and families of deceased public figures will have to contend with the Internet using OpenAI tools to mock the dead.
“Please stop sending my dad AI-powered videos,” Zelda Williams, the daughter of late Hollywood comedy icon Robin Williams, wrote on Instagram. “Stop thinking I want to see it or that I’ll understand it. I don’t and I won’t.”
“I agree regarding my father,” Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, tweeted in response to Williams’ comment. “Please stop.”
More about Sora: People are making videos of Sora 2 showing Stephen Hawking being subjected to horrific brutality
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2025-10-16 15:04:00