Overview

• OpenAI’s updated Sora 2 lets users upload real people and place them into AI‑generated scenes with sound and dialogue, drawing fresh scrutiny over how likenesses and characters are used.
• The Motion Picture Association, SAG‑AFTRA and major agencies including WME, CAA and UTA objected, with Warner Bros. Discovery asserting that copyright owners do not need to opt out to prevent infringing uses.
• Industry sources say some partners were told actors would be included by default unless they opted out, a characterization OpenAI disputes as it says it intended to give public figures control.
• OpenAI says it is engaging with rightsholders, using guardrails and reviewer teams, removing policy‑violating content, and working on granular controls and ways to compensate creators.
• A Tom’s Guide hands‑on review criticizes Sora 2’s TikTok‑style feed as cognitively overwhelming and recommends Google’s Veo 3 for a quieter, studio‑like workflow preferred by some creators.