A new artificial intelligence program is sending shockwaves through Hollywood.

OpenAI released a video generation app called Sora 2. The program allows users to create realistic movie-quality videos. You just talk through the scenes you want.

The software generates the images for you.

Hollywood is in full-blown panic mode over this technology. Industry insiders are making nightmare predictions about the future. They fear the end of showbiz as we know it.

Sora 2 can do something that shocks everyone in the entertainment business. It can place copyrighted characters into videos. It can create realistic representations of famous actors.

The whole process takes minutes instead of months or years.

Some videos generated by Sora 2 have placed Pikachu into famous movies. The Pokemon character appears in Saving Private Ryan. Users can create almost anything they imagine.

The program is not perfect yet. It sometimes struggles with dialog. Strange glitches appear when you slow the video down.

But most glitches go unseen during normal playback speed.

Hollywood remains terrified despite these flaws. Anyone with access to Sora 2 can create cinematic quality video. No studios needed. No producers, actors, directors, or musicians required.

OpenAI made a statement when they released Sora 2.

“Sora 2 can do things that are exceptionally difficult — and in some instances outright impossible — for prior video generation models: Olympic gymnastics routines, backflips on a paddleboard that accurately model the dynamics of buoyancy and rigidity, and triple axels while a cat holds on for dear life.”

The technology raises serious legal questions. Sora 2 does not exactly create new video from nothing. It works through images, sounds, colors, and video in its storage network.

Then it adapts everything into the video requested by users.

A user could ask for Scarlett Johansson having a lightsaber duel with Mickey Mouse. The program would create exactly that. But can this be legal?

Can Sora 2 legally use Johansson’s image without permission? Can it restyle a Star Wars scene? Can it legally show Mickey Mouse?

Social media users claim fair use protections apply. They say as long as they don’t make money, it’s legal. Rights holders strongly disagree.

They don’t want anyone using their properties without permission and fees.

No legal precedents exist yet for this technology. It may be the wild west for a while. The legal landscape needs time to catch up.

Rights holders are seeking opt outs from the program. They want their copyrighted material excluded from Sora 2’s training sources. But everything remains a legal gray area.

Business lawyer and podcaster Richard Hoeg spoke about the legal issues.

“The law moves slowly, far slower than technology, which is why you see these tech companies racing ahead of it a bit. My best guess is that OpenAI is probably going to be okay long term on the training sets they used (assuming they weren’t pirated), and that the ‘opt out of training’ option therefore won’t do much of anything. Where they really need to concern themselves is on the output side and/or if they are marketing their software’s abilities with protected content themselves.”

Sora 2 is not open for everyone yet. OpenAI is distributing it on an invite-only basis. The company decides who gets access.

It’s only available in Canada and the United States. You need a ChatGPT account to use it.

Hollywood’s worry is growing every day. Left-wing magazine Slate published a doom and gloom piece. The article title predicts AI will crush Hollywood as we’ve known it.

The magazine believes these programs will make studios irrelevant. Every person on earth could create their own movies.

Slate’s article ends with a dire warning.

“This is an existential moment for human-created entertainment as we know it. If actors, talent bookers, and studio executives cannot hold the line now, at this very moment, the battle to preserve the humanity inherent to art will be irredeemably set back.”

The entertainment industry faces an uncertain future. Technology is moving faster than anyone expected. Hollywood must adapt or risk becoming obsolete.