Tyler Perry halts 800m studio expansion after being shocked by AI

Tyler Perry has paused an 800m ( 630m) expansion of his Atlanta studio complex after the release of OpenAI's video generator Sora and warned that "a lot of jobs" in the film industry will be lost to artificial intelligence. The US film and TV mogul said he was in the process of adding 12 sound stages to his studio but has halted those plans indefinitely after he saw demonstrations of Sora and its "shocking" capabilities. "All of that is currently and indefinitely on hold because of Sora and what I'm seeing," Perry said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. "I had gotten word over the last year or so that this was coming, but I had no idea until I saw recently the demonstrations of what it's able to do. The AI tool was launched on 15 February – with limited access to a few researchers and video creators – and caused widespread astonishment with its ability to produce realistic footage a minute long from simple text prompts. Perry, whose successes include the Madea film series, said Sora's achievements meant he would no longer have to travel to locations or build a set: "I can sit in an office and do this with a computer, which is shocking to me." Demonstrations released by OpenAI, the developer of the groundbreaking ChatGPT chatbot, show photorealistic scenes in response to prompts such as asking for a shot of people walking through "beautiful, snowy Tokyo city" where "gorgeous sakura petals are flying through the wind along with snowflakes". Sora can create videos of up to 60 seconds featuring highly detailed scenes, complex camera motion, and multiple characters with vibrant emotions. Perry said the breakthroughs presented by Sora would affect a range of jobs throughout the film industry, including those of actors, editors, sound specialists and transportation crew. He said: "I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost.