Unlike traditional social media's 1% creation rate, 70% of Sora users create content. This high engagement, driven by low-friction tools, positions Sora as a 'lean forward' interactive experience more akin to video games than passive 'lean back' consumption feeds.
Sam Altman forecasts a shift where celebrities and brands move from fearing unauthorized AI use to complaining if their likenesses aren't featured enough. They will recognize AI platforms as a vital channel for publicity and fan connection, flipping the current defensive posture on its head.
Instead of managing compute as a scarce resource, Sam Altman's primary focus has become expanding the total supply. His goal is to create compute abundance, moving from a mindset of internal trade-offs to one where the main challenge is finding new ways to use more power.
OpenAI frames the current Sora model as analogous to GPT-3.5: a promising but flawed early version. This signals they know how to build the 'GPT-4 equivalent' for video and expect the pace of improvement to be even faster than it was for large language models.
Sam Altman argues the AI vs. human content debate is a false dichotomy. The dominant creative form will be a hybrid where humans use AI as a tool. Consumers will ultimately judge content on its quality and originality ('is it slop?'), not on its method of creation.
To address fears of misuse, Sora requires users to opt-in via a high-friction 'cameo' process to use anyone's likeness. This is a strategic design choice to give individuals full control, contrasting with open-source tools and reassuring partners in creative industries.
Sam Altman suggests AI will create a new form of entertainment on the spectrum between passive movies and intense games. Experiences will be more interactive than a film but less demanding than a typical video game, allowing users to lean back while also having moments of creative input.