The firm said “disrespectful” content had been generated about the civil rights campaigner.
OpenAI has temporarily stopped its artificial intelligence (AI) app Sora creating deepfake videos portraying Dr Martin Luther King Jr, following a request from his estate.
It said “disrespectful” content had been generated about the civil rights campaigner.
Sora has become popular in the US for making hyper-realistic AI-generated videos, which has led to people sharing clips of deceased celebrities and historical figures in outlandish and often offensive scenarios.
OpenAI said it would pause images of Dr King “as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures” – but it continues to allow people to make clips of others.
The firm has faced controversy over this stance, as videos featuring notable figures such as President John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II and Professor Stephen Hawking have been shared widely online.
It led Zelda Williams, the daughter of Robin Williams, to ask people to stop sending her AI-generated videos of her father, the celebrated US actor and comic who died in 2014.
