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OpenAI is gearing up for a jam-packed “shipmas” celebration, rolling out 12 days of new features, products, and demos starting December 5. According to the Verge, the 12 days of highlights include the much-anticipated launch of Sora, OpenAI’s AI-powered video generator, alongside a new reasoning model and other tools.
The company teased the event on Wednesday (Dec. 4), with a tweet on X: “12 days. 12 livestreams. A bunch of new things, big and small. 12 Days of OpenAI starts tomorrow.”
12 days.
12 livestreams.
A bunch of new things, big and small.12 Days of OpenAI starts tomorrow.
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) December 4, 2024
OpenAI employees then joined in, hinting at some exciting reveals. Bill Peebles, who leads the Sora project, playfully replied to a tweet that said “unbelievably back” with a simple confirmation: “Correct.”
correct https://t.co/O21WcBBhuM
— Bill Peebles (@billpeeb) December 3, 2024
Here’s what we know about the Sora AI video generator so far:
What is Sora AI video generator?
Just like we’ve gotten used to generative AI for text and images—think ChatGPT, DALL-E, or Google Gemini—Sora AI is bringing the same magic to video creation.
Sora works much like other generative AI models. It learns from the vast data it processes, improving over time to deliver detailed and accurate results based on the prompts it’s given.
The process is straightforward. Say you provide a prompt like, “A woman running in the desert during sunset,” Sora will create a video that matches your description. You can keep it simple or get as detailed as you want—the more specifics you give, the better the output.
For example, the video below by Sora’s previous lead, Tim Brooks, is the result of the prompt, “Fly through tour of a museum with many paintings and sculptures and beautiful works of art in all styles.”
"fly through tour of a museum with many paintings and sculptures and beautiful works of art in all styles"
Video generated by #Sora pic.twitter.com/SNr9dQZe5V
— Tim Brooks (@_tim_brooks) March 2, 2024
Peebles created a few of his own, including one with the text prompt: “An alien blending in naturally with new york city, paranoia thriller style, 35mm film.”
"an alien blending in naturally with new york city, paranoia thriller style, 35mm film"
Video generated by Sora. pic.twitter.com/KReZdvlB0N
— Bill Peebles (@billpeeb) March 2, 2024
How can I access Sora AI during the 12 days of Shipmas?
As of now, Sora isn’t available for public use, though it may be revealed during this 12 days event. So far, OpenAI has only granted access to select developers to identify potential weaknesses and risks in the model. In addition, a small group of visual artists, designers, and filmmakers was invited to test Sora’s capabilities and provide feedback to help refine it.
But things took a turn recently. ReadWrite previously reported that some artists who were alpha testing Sora throughout 2024 under an invite-only preview leaked the model in protest, claiming they were being used by OpenAI for “unpaid R&D and PR.” This preview allowed artists to experiment with Sora and generate videos as part of an early-stage research initiative.
In response, OpenAI suspended access to the platform. A spokesperson told ReadWrite at the time: “Participation is voluntary, with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool. We’ve been excited to offer these artists free access and will continue supporting them through grants, events, and other programs. We believe AI can be a powerful creative tool and are committed to making Sora both useful and safe.”
Despite the hiccups, former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that Sora would be available to the public by the end of 2024. All eyes are now on OpenAI as we wait to see if the timeline holds.
ReadWrite has reached out to OpenAI for further clarification.
Featured image: OpenAI
