eSAFETY GUIDE

Sora

13+
Minimum age according to Sora
13+ Minimum age according to Sora

What was Sora?

Sora was an AI text-to-video generator developed by OpenAI, the company behind other AI systems such as ChatGPT and DALL·E. Sora produced realistic videos based on textual prompts written by users. Sora means ‘sky’ in Japanese. It could generate videos up to a minute long. The footage produced by Sora could include multiple characters, different types of motion and cinematic detail in the background.

Sora ran on an adaptation of the DALL·E 3 model, which was trained using millions of images from the web. OpenAI stated that Sora also used photo and video content from the content library Shutterstock.

In 2024, OpenAI released Sora to a handful of AI experts and creative practitioners (visual artists, designers and filmmakers) to test the platform's capacities and its potential harms and risks. Among these risks was the production of abusive, shocking or problematic content. Because the videos produced by Sora were incredibly realistic, people could find it challenging to determine if a video generated by Sora was real or fake. This could lead to the indiscriminate use of deepfakes for disinformation and other harmful content.

Website: openai.com/sora

How did people use Sora?

Learn more about the benefits and risks associated with how people used AI video generation tools like Sora.

Sora was used for: ai generative images, photo/video sharing and screen capture.

Social media changes

From 10 December 2025, certain social media platforms are not allowed to let Australian children under 16 create or keep an account.

Find out more at eSafety’s social media age restrictions hub.

About The eSafety Guide

The eSafety Guide helps you find out how to protect your personal information and report harmful content on common social media, games, apps and sites. Entries are for information only and are not reviews, endorsements or assessments against any legislative definition by eSafety. Before choosing to use any online service or platform it’s best to:

  • do your own research to understand the risks and benefits
  • check the age rating and requirements
  • consider privacy
  • check the permissions and other settings
  • check the in-app reporting options.

If you are a parent or carer who is deciding whether a child should be allowed to use an online service or platform, you can also:

  • consider your child's readiness for the types of content and experiences they might encounter
  • help them understand what to do if they need help
  • provide ongoing support and monitoring, for example through regular check-ins with your child
  • agree to some rules about use of each service or platform.

To find out more, you can read the App checklist for parents, as well as information about parental controls in social media, games and apps and mental wellbeing resources for families.