--- title: "Sam Altman Says Copyright Holders Are Begging for Their Characters to Be Included in Sora" description: "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has remained adamant that rightsholders are already lining up to have their IP featured on Sora 2." date: "2025-10-08" modified: "2025-10-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-copyright-holders-begging-sora" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "OpenAI" --- # Sam Altman Says Copyright Holders Are Begging for Their Characters to Be Included in Sora ![OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has remained adamant that rightsholders are already lining up to have their IP featured on Sora 2.]() *Kevin Dietsch / Getty / Futurism* OpenAI's latest text-to-video generating app, Sora 2, exploded onto the scene late last week, quickly [devolving into a mind-numbing mess of AI slop](). Before OpenAI stemmed the flood with crudely implemented guardrails, users immediately started generating footage featuring copyrighted materials, from [SpongeBob SquarePants cooking up meth]() to CEO Sam Altman [grilling a photorealistic Pikachu](). The spread of copyrighted material on the app [sparked a debate]() surrounding the mass infringement of protected intellectual property, which has already led to [major Hollywood studios coming after OpenAI's competitors](). But despite the app's messy launch, Altman has remained adamant that rightsholders are already lining up to have their IP featured on the platform. During a [newly-released chat with the a16z podcast]()'s cofounder Ben Horowitz and general partner Erik Torenberg, Altman said that "in the case of Sora, we've heard from a lot of concerned rightsholders and also a lot of rightsholders who are like 'My concern is you won't put my character in enough.'" https://youtu.be/JfE1Wun9xkk?t=1804 While they allegedly told him that they want "restrictions" so their characters wouldn't "say some crazy offensive thing," Altman says copyright holders want "people to interact" and to "develop the relationship" to make their franchises become "more valuable." "So I can completely see a world where subject to the decisions that a rightsholder has, they get more upset with us for not generating their character often enough than too much," he told Horowitz and Torenberg. It'd be interesting to know the balance of rightsholders who have reached out to OpenAI who are upset that their characters are being featured on the app versus ones who want greater visibility on the platform. Major content producers have historically bristled at having their IP reproduced without authorization. A litany of lawsuits aimed at AI image generator Midjourney and embattled AI chatbot company Character.AI suggest that OpenAI may be facing an uphill battle to get rightsholders on its side. Case in point, last week, Character.AI announced that it was [removing chatbots directly inspired by Disney characters]() from its platform after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the media juggernaut. In short, the company's launch of Sora 2 seems to have preceded working out many of the logistics. The mass infringement of well-known copyrighted materials, in particular, appears to have caught Altman off guard. "Another thing you learn once you launch one of these things is how people use them versus how you think they're going to use them," he told a16z. "And people are certainly using Sora in the ways we thought they were going to use it, but they're also using it in ways that are very different." For now, Altman said that he wants to show the world what society looks like when tools to [generate incriminating CCTV footage of crimes]() that were never committed — or even [entire "South Park" episodes ]()— land in the hands of anybody with a smartphone and an invite code. In other words, Sora 2 is OpenAI's grand AI slop experiment that may continue to take unexpected turns. "I also think it is important to give society a taste of what's coming on this co-evolution point," he said on the podcast. But "there will be some adjustment that society has to go through," Altman added. **More on Sora:** [*Sora 2 Has a Huge Financial Problem*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()