In September, OpenAI launched a way for users to generate a digital likeness of themselves they could use to create personalized deepfake videos. This is one of the core features in Sora, OpenAI’s app for sharing AI videos inside a TikTok-style feed. The self-deepfaking feature was called “cameo,” and with that standout feature, Sora quickly rose to the top of Apple’s iOS download charts.
This feature name led to a trademark lawsuit with Cameo, the app where fans can pay celebrities to record personalized videos. Now, because of the legal action, OpenAI has temporarily scrubbed the “cameo” branding from its Sora app. The app now refers to the feature as “characters.”
Creative originality is not achievable by generative AI, which is built on finding patterns in large datasets, and OpenAI seems to be matching this derivative vibe with its naming schemas. In addition to being told to remove “cameo” from Sora, OpenAI was also recently ordered not to call its upcoming hardware device “io,” in response to a separate lawsuit from a company named “iyO” that’s already building an AI-powered hardware device.
According to update logs on OpenAI’s website, the company removed the name for the Sora feature over a week after US District Judge Eumi K. Lee issued a temporary restraining order. The judge’s order blocked OpenAI from using “cameo” or variations of the word. The next hearing, which may decide whether this ban sticks, is scheduled for December 19.
Discussions between Cameo and OpenAI have been “pretty non-existent,” according to Steven Galanis, the CEO of Cameo. “They clearly knew Cameo existed. They knew we had trademarks on it,” he said in a call with WIRED shortly after the judge issued the temporary restraining order. “They chose the name anyway.”
He sees this lawsuit as an “existential” battle over the word “cameo” and the app’s brand he’s built over the last eight years. “When people think about the word, now it means something different than authentic personalized connections,” said Galatis. “It means AI slop.” Galatis claimed OpenAI’s feature name was already hurting Cameo’s visibility in Google search results.
“We disagree with the complaint’s assertion that anyone can claim exclusive ownership over the word ‘cameo’, and we look forward to continuing to make our case to the court,” said an OpenAI spokesperson in an emailed statement.
When the “cameo” name was not immediately removed from the Sora app, an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to WIRED that the company was “taking steps to comply” with the judge’s orders and highlighted a portion of the company’s opposition brief saying it might take “up to three” weeks for OpenAI to make the change after a new name was picked.
Generative AI tools are incredible mimicking machines, outputting answers that match what the statistically probable answer is likely to be. An easy way for OpenAI to avoid these lawsuits altogether would be for the startup to come up with novel, original names for its drops. Though, when a business is built upon mimicking others outputs, originality is not likely its strong suit.
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