OpenAI stops deepfakes of Martin Luther King Jr after complaints from estate

OpenAI has paused the creation of deepfake videos portraying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on its AI video generation app, Sora, following a formal request from his estate.

The company conceded that its powerful tool had been used to create “disrespectful” content concerning the civil rights leader. The decision was prompted by the viral spread of hyper-realistic, yet faked, videos of deceased celebrities and historical figures being placed in bizarre and often offensive scenarios.

Specifically, deepfakes depicting Dr. King included clips of his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech being edited to include racist noises, and other shared videos showed figures resembling Dr. King and Malcolm X fighting each other. Bernice A. King, Dr. King’s daughter, made a public plea, asking the company to “Please stop.”

OpenAI stated it would pause images of Dr. King “as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures.” However, the company confirmed that it will continue to allow people to generate clips of other high-profile deceased individuals, including President John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II, and Professor Stephen Hawking.

The company is establishing a new, controversial policy. While it believes there are “strong free speech interests” in depicting historical figures, it is allowing authorized representatives or estate owners to request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.

This approach is generating criticism that only well-resourced estates will be able to protect the digital likenesses of deceased individuals, leading to a “free-for-all” for others.

AI ethicists argue that OpenAI should have implemented these measures before launching such powerful technology, stating that the current “trial and error by firehose” approach risks rewriting history and blurring the line between real and fake content.