The decision was made after a wave of criticism and outrage from the families of the deceased, whose images were used to generate realistic deepfake videos.
The decision was made after a wave of criticism and outrage from the families of the deceased, whose images were used to generate realistic deepfake videos.
OpenAI has announced the suspension of the ability to create videos featuring a number of deceased public figures and celebrities, including Martin Luther King Jr., in the Sora app (an artificial intelligence video generator).
Statement from OpenAI and King Estate, Inc.
— OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) October 17, 2025
The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. (King, Inc.) and OpenAI have worked together to address how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s likeness is represented in Sora generations. Some users generated disrespectful depictions of Dr.…
The policy adjustment came shortly after Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter publicly condemned the creation of AI content featuring her father posted online after Sora launched.
OpenAI said it recognizes free speech interests in depicting historical figures, but believes that public figures and their families should have control over the use of their likeness.
The company is implementing a mechanism whereby authorized representatives or estate owners of “recently deceased” public figures can request a ban on the use of their likeness in videos generated by Sora.
Sora, which creates incredibly realistic videos based on text queries, initially allowed the generation of images of deceased celebrities (as opposed to living ones, which were banned). This led to numerous videos featuring King, Williams, rapper Tupac Shakur, and others.
Recall that in the first seven days, Sora 2 was downloaded by 627,000 users in the US and Canada alone, thus surpassing ChatGPT, which had 606,000 downloads over the same period.
