By Michael Gryboski, Editor Monday, October 20, 2025

OpenAI has agreed to stop the creation of user-generated videos of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the request of his family, citing “disrespectful depictions of Dr. King’s image.”

The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr., Inc. and OpenAI issued a joint statement last Thursday announcing the agreement to pause AI generations of King on their Sora platform.

The statement noted that Open AI and the King estate “have worked together to address how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s likeness is represented in Sora generations.”

“Some users generated disrespectful depictions of Dr. King’s image. So at King, Inc.'s request, OpenAI has paused generations depicting Dr. King as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures,” they stated.

“While there are strong free speech interests in depicting historical figures, OpenAI believes public figures and their families should ultimately have control over how their likeness is used. Authorized representatives or estate owners can request that their likeness not be used in Sora cameos.”

OpenAI thanked King’s daughter, Bernice, who also serves as the CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, for reaching out to them about the issue.

For her part, Bernice King said on her official X account last Friday that while her father “was a public figure, he was not an elected official, and his image is not public domain.”

“For me, many of the AI depictions never rose to the level of free speech. They were foolishness,” she stated. “The King Estate is grateful for the cooperation of OpenAI in helping control the use of my father’s likeness in Sora2 digital generations.”

“In advancing this conversation, we hope to inspire policies or at least guardrails to control inappropriate content — while also embracing creative innovation and a commitment to the myriad of ways we can use technology for good.”

Last month, OpenAI announced the release of Sora 2, which they labeled as their “flagship video and audio generation model” and an update from their original Sora model, which was released in February 2024.

“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,” stated OpenAI.

“The model is also a big leap forward in controllability, able to follow intricate instructions spanning multiple shots while accurately persisting world state. It excels at realistic, cinematic, and anime styles.”

The King family are not the only individuals with a deceased famous relative who find themselves denouncing AI-generated videos of their loved one.

Earlier this month, the daughter of famed actor and comedian Robin Williams denounced videos that were created of her deceased father and posted on TikTok.

“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” she stated, as quoted by PetaPixel. “Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t.”

“If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s NOT what he’d want.”

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/openai-blocks-user-generated-videos-of-martin-luther-king-jr.html