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Subscribers to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Pro and Plus plans will get access to Sora, OpenAI’s video generator, starting today — but only if they live in certain countries.
A newly published help page on OpenAI’s website listing the supported regions for Sora “on web and mobile” omits all EU countries. On the page, OpenAI notes that accessing Sora outside the territories listed may result in an account ban or suspension.
Looks like Sora won’t be available in EU & UK https://t.co/WYnARYueHc pic.twitter.com/ApRbL3iH8S
— Tibor Blaho (@btibor91) December 9, 2024
During a livestream, OpenAI revealed other key details about Sora. The version launching today, called Sora Turbo, can generate clips between 5 seconds and 22 seconds in length in a range of aspect ratios and resolutions.
It’s not the first time OpenAI has skipped over EU countries for an initial product launch. This summer, when the company began rolling out Advanced Voice Mode, its human-like conversational feature for ChatGPT, EU users were left out of the early waves.
In a statement provided to TechRadar this fall, OpenAI attributed the Advanced Voice Mode delay to the “additional external reviews” required by some territories. “This is a common practice to ensure [our] feature aligns with local requirements,” a spokesperson told the publication at the time. “These [reviews] can take a little time.”
Advanced Voice Mode arrived for most EU customers in October.
Other tech companies working on AI models and products, including Meta and Microsoft, have also been forced to push back AI product releases in the EU due to the bloc’s complex web of data privacy regulations. Meta has been particularly vocal about compliance requirements it sees as onerous, earlier this year endorsing an open letter calling for “a modern interpretation” of European privacy laws that doesn’t “reject [AI] progress.”
Kyle Wiggers is a senior reporter at TechCrunch with a special interest in artificial intelligence. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as a range of gadget blogs including Android Police, Android Authority, Droid-Life, and XDA-Developers. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, a piano educator, and dabbles in piano himself. occasionally — if mostly unsuccessfully.
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