Hollywood Is Mad at OpenAI Again

The entertainment industry is once again feeling anxious about AI.

This time, the tension centers on OpenAI’s Sora 2, a video generator capable of producing hyper-realistic clips from just a few words. Unlike earlier curiosities that sparked fascination more than fear, Sora 2 has triggered swift backlash from the very people who make movie magic — and reignited long-standing debates over control, consent, and compensation.

Tensions flared when Creative Artists Agency (CAA), one of Hollywood’s most powerful talent firms, warned that Sora 2 “exposes our clients and their intellectual property to significant risk,” urging that the misuse of such tools could have consequences far beyond entertainment.

It went on to directly challenge OpenAI’s intentions, asking, “The question is, does OpenAI and its partner companies believe that humans, writers, artists, actors, directors, producers, musicians, and athletes deserve to be compensated and credited for the work they create?”

The news comes two weeks after Whoopi Goldberg and Emily Blunt expressed concern about AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood.

Hollywood’s gatekeepers fight back

CAA was clear about what it expects, stating that “Control, permission for use, and compensation is a fundamental right of these workers. Anything less than the protection of creators and their rights is unacceptable.”

They aren’t the only agency taking a stand. Rival agency WME has already taken a more direct step, explicitly telling its agents that it has “notified OpenAI that all WME clients be opted out of the latest Sora AI update.”

The Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin said in an Oct. 6 statement that OpenAI “must acknowledge it remains their responsibility — not rightsholders’ — to prevent infringement on the Sora 2 service,” urging the company to “take immediate and decisive action to address this issue.”

The issue becomes even more emotionally charged when it involves late stars. Family members of Robin Williams and George Carlin have spoken out, expressing outrage and heartbreak over AI-generated deepfakes of their loved ones.

OpenAI’s response: Change is coming

In a blog post titled “Sora Update #1”, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the mounting criticism. He said the company will soon give rightsholders “more granular control over generation of characters” and plans to share revenue with creators who allow their characters to be used.

“We want to apply the same standard towards everyone, and let rightsholders decide how to proceed,” Altman wrote. He also admitted there could be “some edge cases of generations that get through that shouldn’t,” but pledged to move quickly to improve the system.

Altman added that the company will experiment with revenue-sharing for rightsholders: “We are going to try sharing some of this revenue with rightsholders who want their characters generated by users.”

Altman concluded his post by asking for patience, promising rapid iteration: “Please expect a very high rate of change from us; it reminds me of the early days of ChatGPT.”

However, for a nervous Hollywood, which has seen clips of copyrighted characters from SpongeBob SquarePants to Pokémon circulate online, the initial damage is done, and the demand for stronger legal guardrails remains front and center.

Discover how OpenAI’s Sora 2 is pushing Hollywood’s limits — and how studios, creators, and rights holders are scrambling to regain control and demand compensation.