OpenAI Tightens Sora Protections to Guard Likenesses and Voices
March 24, 2026
OpenAI, SAG-AFTRA, actor Bryan Cranston, United Talent Agency, Creative Artists Agency, and the Association of Talent Agents issued a joint statement emphasizing “productive collaboration” to reinforce protections for voice and likeness in content produced with Sora 2 and the Sora app.
- Bryan Cranston had raised alarms after people created deepfake videos featuring his likeness without consent or compensation. Families of Robin Williams, George Carlin, and Martin Luther King Jr. also voiced concerns to OpenAI about the app.
- OpenAI maintains an opt-in policy for using a living person’s voice or likeness, but earlier versions of Sora allowed Cranston’s likeness to be used without his permission. In response, the company has strengthened guardrails around replicating voices and likenesses without express consent.
- The aim is to uphold performers’ and creators’ rights to determine how they can be represented with Sora, alongside a commitment to handling complaints promptly (expeditiously) going forward.
- OpenAI previously tweaked Sora in response to the King family’s concerns and said it would bolster guardrails for historical figures. While there are strong free-speech interests in depicting deceased historical and public figures, authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness be excluded from Sora cameos.
- Since Sora’s launch on September 30, the app has quickly become one of the more popular entries in the App Store.
Related notes from the broader tech press have highlighted ongoing product roadmaps and rumors about new devices and updates from Apple, illustrating how rapidly the landscape for AI tools and consumer hardware is evolving.
