Recent rumors surrounding the highly anticipated Sora AI model have caused quite a stir within the AI space, with some reports suggesting an actual release date. However, nothing official has been confirmed yet and the wait for OpenAI’s next AI model continues.
Sora is the new AI model that’s capable of generating incredibly life-like video from text prompts, as well as animating DALL-E images. It will no doubt thrust OpenAI into the next phase of its march into artificial intelligence unknown, but what is the Sora release date?
The expectation already attached to Sora is understandably high. Being an OpenAI product, and as a major follow-up to the company’s ChatGPT and DALL-E tools, Sora is highly anticipated – both in terms of capabilities and public access. In fact, for many, it would be disappointing if it wasn’t instantly one of the best AI video generators when released. However, it’s likely the company will only release Sora once it has completed extensive testing on the new model – to ensure it is both safe and usable.
In this piece, we’ll cover the latest information and updates surrounding Sora, including release dates, potential pricing, and features.
Sora release date rumors
Nothing official has been announced about the Sora release date just yet and any leaked rumors are seemingly being quashed by experts in the community.
The latest rumors circulating the AI model’s release suggested an August 2024 release. However, a forum entry on OpenAI’s developer forum has seen a moderator potentially crush that rumor.
Having been revealed to the world on February 15th, 2024, the natural follow-up question is “When will it be released, and when can you access it?” At the time of writing, OpenAI has provided no official Sora release date. So for now there is only speculation and predictions to be made – unless we take OpenAI’s previous launches as a potential template.
ChatGPT was worked on in 2021 (famously, only utilizing data up until 2021 before going ‘online’ in 2023). But it was actually alluded to by OpenAI in research on ‘InstructGPT’ models in January 2022, before launching in November 2022. So there is a precedent for a few months between reference and a proper launch. As Sora has arrived with a lot of public information, it may be that there is a quicker launch being planned.
However, given it is currently in a phase of testing and feedback, with extremely limited access (to OpenAI, researchers, and rare demos for selected experts), it is hard to say. Even though OpenAI has released information on Sora’s capabilities, the public only has that and the Sora technical report for now. So as far as a speculated release date goes, we’d suggest it could be available in the second half of 2024, but perhaps not until Q4.
Is Sora available to the public?
OpenAI started its testing process on Sora by making the text-based video editor available to “Red teamers” – a select group of individuals whos job is to test the the tool for security and stability purposes. Since then, OpenaI has extended its reach by inviting visual artists, designers, and movie makers to test the tool and provide feedback.
The brand stated on its Sora product page “We’re sharing our research progress early to start working with and getting feedback from people outside of OpenAI and to give the public a sense of what AI capabilities are on the horizon,”.
But what does that mean for the wider public? Well, sadly, it means pretty much what it says on the tin – you won’t be given access unless you are one of the above. In fact, there is almost no information available on when the tool might become available for beta testing through wider public means.
Will Sora be free?
Not much is publicly known about the potential costs of the Video generating tool just yet, with OpenAI shedding little light on the costs.
Some are speculating that the tool will work in a similar manner to that of Dalle 2, where you get free credits but ultimately you’ll end up having to pay for the tool.
A conversation on the matter was quickly closed down by one of the site’s admins on OpenAI’s Developer Forum, with the admin advising people to await an official announcement.
Conclusion
Although we don’t yet know the Sora release date, we will be keeping a close eye on OpenAI for future updates. We feel it could arrive this year, and perhaps in a matter of months. But we’ll update here with the latest information as we get it, as we’re keen to bring as much useful and latest information to you about Sora as possible!
