OpenAI has launched Sora, a new iPhone app that lets users generate short AI-driven videos from text prompts, marking a direct challenge to Meta’s recently released “Vibes” feature. The rollout comes as the tech industry intensifies its race to dominate AI-generated visual content.

With Sora, users can transform their ideas into visual stories—whether surreal, cinematic, or animated—by entering a text prompt or remixing existing creations. The app includes a “cameo” feature, allowing users to place themselves or friends into generated scenes, as long as consent and identity checks are satisfied. OpenAI emphasizes that users cannot generate realistic likenesses of public figures without permission.

Meta’s Vibes, part of its Meta AI ecosystem, similarly prioritizes AI-produced short video content, delivering personalized feeds based on user interactions. The simultaneous push by both rivals suggests the emergence of a new battleground in social media: algorithmically crafted spectacle rather than human storytelling.

However, critics warn that a flood of such content risks swamping authentic, human-driven media with what some call “AI slop.” Experts argue that too much slick, AI-generated video—realistic in appearance but hollow in substance—could erode trust in what’s real, saturate timelines, and make it harder for genuine voices to break through. One political science professor described how the appeal of fantastical, hyperreal visuals threatens to blur lines between fact and fabrication.

OpenAI is trying to preempt backlash by flagging generated content and prioritizing posts from friends over strangers to limit unchecked virality. Still, questions remain around copyright, misinformation, and creative integrity—especially as both Sora and Vibes gear up for broader distribution.

As more users adopt AI-video apps, observers will be watching closely to see whether the visual future becomes one of rich creativity or a deluge of indistinguishable, synthetic content.