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When seeing stops believing

If you work in the media industry or care about the quality of the information ecosystem we all inhabit, you need to pay attention to Sora 2.

"This feels to many of us like the 'ChatGPT for creativity' moment," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in his blog post announcing the product, and many early testers agree. Sora 2 is an AI video generator, a TikTok challenger, and a social network all in one. And right now, at Altman's urging, the feed is full of Altman "deepfakes."

OpenAI

Now, Sora 2 might just be another online fad, a reality-deadening distraction that people will soon tire of. But more likely it's a new form of communication, turning users into the stars of AI-created mini-movies — copyright owners and professional actors and scam victims be damned.

Sora 2, currently the #1 free app in Apple's US App Store, is part of a fast-growing (and so destabilizing it's frightening) phenomenon. It comes fast on the heels of Meta releasing a new AI video feed called Vibes. And it adds to a season full of heightened stress about "AI slop." Unreal videos are moving from a concerning sideshow to being the centerpiece of our feeds.

For former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, the biggest takeaway about Sora and Vibes is that consumers are valuing AI-generated videos "like they do traditionally created good short form vids."

For users, it's not necessarily a question of "real" versus "fake," but rather "fun to watch" versus "boring." And with Sora's "cameos," which turn people into playable characters, your actual face is inside the artificial reality, so what's "fake" anymore?

Stating the obvious: The implications for human-made news and info are massive. As Scott Rosenberg wrote for Axios, "Feeds, memes and slop are the building blocks of a new media world where verification vanishes, unreality dominates, everything blurs into everything else and nothing carries any informational or emotional weight."

Making disinfo 'extremely' easy and real

For a brief moment in history, video was evidence of reality. Now it's a tool for unreality.

Two teams at the NYT tried out Sora, which is invite-only for the time being, and the resulting stories reflected the power and the possibility of the tech. Mike Isaac and Eli Tan led with the amazing, "jaw-dropping" creativity that Sora has unleashed before turning to the "disconcerting" aspects of the app. Tiffany Hsu, Stuart A. Thompson and Steven Lee Myers led with the app's ability to make disinformation "extremely easy and extremely real."

NPR's Geoff Brumfiel noticed that OpenAI's "guardrails" against unwelcome content "appeared to be somewhat loose around Sora. While many prompts were refused, it was possible to generate videos that support conspiracy theories. For example it was easy to create a video of what appeared to be President Richard Nixon giving a televised address telling America the moon landing was faked."

That's kind of the whole point — to be able to create almost anything. "Prioritize creation" is the way Altman put it. And the result, The Verge's Hayden Field says, is that "it's getting hard to tell what's real." Or rather, it's getting even harder...

The era of infinite content 

I don't have any profound answers here, but I just keep wondering what concepts like "high-quality," "edited" and "fact-checked" will mean in a world of infinite and mostly AI-generated content. The war for attention is ferocious and yet it's barely even started, if you think about what seems to be coming.

"Ever since the early days of social media and YouTube, there has been more content created than people could ever watch, so we allowed algorithms to sort through it all and tell us what we watch, and we saw what happened to the media landscape, to our attention economy," Human Ventures co-founder Joe Marchese told me.

"Now we are entering an entirely new epoch where Generative AI will allow for the creation of infinite content, at ever lower costs, meaning the means of distribution, the platforms and their algorithms, are going to have to adjust again, and the business models we built, however shaky on top of the platforms and their algorithms, are about to be upended, again. The future of the attention economy, that all us humans have to live in together, feels more chaotic than ever."

With that in mind, here are a few of this week's best reads about Sora and the implications for all of us:

6️⃣ key reads/reactions

 >> Casey Newton recapped "what everyone is saying about Sora." In sum: "It's cool. It's scary. It's a hit." (Platformer)

 >> Katie Notopoulos tried to set aside all the "worries and fears" about Sora and wrote about how deliriously fun it is. It's addictive "because it's starring you." (Business Insider)

 >> "It turns out that people may not mind AI slop as long as they can be part of it with their friends," Alex Heath writes. "That Meta, the most successful social media company in history, apparently did not understand this, while OpenAI did, is striking." (Sources)

 >> "Should public figures be fair game in this game? The lawyers are going to have a field day in this brave new world," M.G. Siegler wrote after making a video of JFK saying that his favorite movie is the Care Bears. (Spyglass)

 >> "The difference with Sora 2, I think, is that OpenAI, like X's Grok, has completely given up any pretense that this is anything other than a machine that is trained on other people's work that it did not pay for, and that can easily recreate that work," Jason Koebler writes. (404 Media)

 >> Will studios sue? "Talks are underway," Winston Cho writes. (THR)

Our hyper-individualized media future

Let's think longer-term about the consequences of these tools. Historically people have mostly been consumers of media, not creators. What does it mean when we're all creators first and foremost? 

I'm instinctually wary of AI hype artists, but some of these predictions from tech investor Greg Isenberg feel spot on. "In 5-10 years," he wrote, "people won't ask 'what's your favorite show?' they'll ask 'what's your favorite generator?'"

We also have to ask, as the aforementioned Casey Newton does, "what happens when the majority of video we consume is not just synthetic but also highly personalized: tuned not just to our individual tastes and interests but also to our faces and voices." If you think today's information bubbles divide us, wait until each of us lives in a bubble designed for one.

In other AI news...

Perplexity "has signed up seven US-based and French publishers as launch partners for its Comet Plus subscription within the AI-powered Comet browser," Charlotte Tobitt reports for Press Gazette. The partners include CNN, Conde Nast, Fortune, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.

Apple removes 'ICEBlock' app

Following a request from the DOJ, "Apple has removed ICEBlock and similar apps that allow people to alert others nearby about sightings of ICE agents in their area," CNN's Clare Duffy reports. President Trump and his administration "have railed against the apps for months, arguing that they pose a threat to ICE agents." News of the admin's "demand" for the app's removal was given first to Fox last night...

Live-streaming journo to be deported today

After more than 100 days in US detention, live-streaming journalist Mario Guevara will be deported to his native El Salvador today, according to the press freedom groups that have advocated for him. 

"Make no mistake, this is not a simple immigration case as authorities would have the public believe," Katherine Jacobsen of CPJ says. Amnesty International calls it "a grave injustice and yet another attack by the Trump Administration on human rights."

Trump talking about a '60 Min' sit-down

One year ago, Trump decided to pick a very public fight with "60 Minutes" after refusing to participate in a pre-election interview. I don't need to recap the ensuing lawsuit and settlement here. Now the White House "is in talks with ‘60 Minutes’ about conducting an upcoming interview with Trump," Semafor's Max Tani and Shelby Talcott report...

Rights groups decry Saudi comedy fest

The Riyadh Comedy Festival, which runs through next week and features the likes of Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr and Pete Davidson, "is drawing intense criticism from human rights advocates who say the star-studded event helps gloss over the kingdom’s ongoing human rights abuses," CNN's Liam Reilly reports.

Some of the star comedians don't seem terribly concerned. "Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled," Chappelle told the Riyadh crowd during his Saturday set, per the NYT. "It's easier to talk here than it is in America." Chappelle is being widely criticized for that claim. Perhaps the NYT's headline sums it all up best: "At Saudi Comedy Fest, American Free Speech Becomes the Punchline..."

Briefly...

 >> NBCUniversal and YouTube TV have "reached terms on a new carriage deal, avoiding a blackout. Univision, however, is still dark on YouTube TV. (Deadline)

 >> Elon Musk kept up his anti-Netflix crusade yesterday. (CNBC)

>> James O'Keefe, "of all people, won't let Trump skate on Epstein," Will Sommer writes in his latest column. (The Bulwark)

 >> FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, speaking at the University of Mississippi as part of her First Amendment Tour, said it's time for a firm "public interest" definition. (The Desk)

 >> When David Ellison completes his acquisition of The Free Press and brings Bari Weiss aboard as editor in chief of CBS News, Weiss "will report directly to" Ellison, Alexandra Steigrad reports. (NYPost)

New intel on Disney succession race

Bloomberg's Thomas Buckley says Disney Parks chief Josh D'Amaro "is looking very much like the CEO in waiting." Buckleys says the "search for Bob Iger’s successor is viewed as two-horse race," with D'Amaro in the lead...

More of today's tech talk

 >> The aforementioned OpenAI “has reached a valuation of $500 billion, following a deal in which current and former employees sold roughly $6.6 billion worth of shares." (Reuters)

 >> Threads is officially launching "Communities" to "give users dedicated spaces within the app where they can delve deeper into conversations on topics that matter to them." (TechCrunch)

 >> An insightful piece by Lauren Forristal: "YouTubers aren't relying on ad revenue anymore — here’s how some are diversifying." (TechCrunch)

'Life of a Showgirl' vibes 

Happy Taylor Swift album launch day to all who celebrate. "Fans around the world stayed up late for a midnight release and came together to listen," CNN's Sandra Gonzalez wrote overnight. NYT reviewer Jon Caramanica says Swift "sounds hungry to embrace her future — but not until she attends to some unfinished business." I'm taking my kids to the release party flick this afternoon, so more TK! 

Three notes about 'Mr. Free Speech'

 >> Jon Stewart visited last night's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Brooklyn, during which he dubbed the late-night comic "Mr. Free Speech." (Yahoo)

 >> Speaking of Kimmel, his return episode "was an even bigger ratings bonanza than we knew," Jed Rosenzweig writes. "According to Nielsen Live+3 day ratings, Kimmel’s September 23 broadcast drew a total of 8.6 million viewers to ABC — a 2 million jump over the initial same-day tally.” (LateNighter)

 >> Damage from Kimmel-gate? Analysts at Jefferies crunched some Morning Consult #s and found that "sentiment and brand awareness for Disney and its streaming platform have fallen to lowest in at least two years in the last two weeks." (CNBC)

This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.