Weekend roundup: Sora 2 after 2 days, Comet is free and Disney on copyrights

Sora 2 spews copyrighted materials all over
After a couple of days in the wild, OpenAIs new video generator spews nazi SpongeBobs, stealing Picachus and just about everything you can imagine from Darth Vader to Mickey Mouse and other protected IPs. Apparently, OpenAI has been in talks with movie studios urging them to opt out if they disagree with their IP use. Disney did just that, but it hasn’t helped much, it seems.
More at: 404 media, Gizmodo, Axios.

UPDATE: You can get Sora 2 invite codes here, on a pay if forward-basis, if you just promise to leave some codes back where you got them. [Turns out they are empty. You could maybe try again later.]

Perplexity frees the Comet browser
Their AI agentic browser was previously only available for those who paid for a $200 monthly membership, and amassed a 2 million person queue for downloads. Now Perplexity is making it free. You can also subscribe for $5 per month to select media sources that will get paid for inclusion in the results. The browser can summarize Slack chats, get directions from maps, and even pull specific points in YouTube videos for you. It should also be better at distinguishing AI slop from genuine, human made content. You can download it here.
More at: Business Insider, Engadget.

Read on for more!

Disney sends cease and desist to Character.ai
Incensed at the use of their copyrighted characters being used at bots at the site, Disney is laying down the law. Character.ai lets users create chatbots around certain themes, and Disney says some of these are unauthorized. In response, Character.ai says they «want to partner with the industry… to bring their characters to our platform,» but Disney seems non-plussed at that invitation. They have also sued Midjourney for pretty much the same reason.
More at: CNBC, Engadget.

OpenAI neuters 4o, launches parental controls
After totally neutering the 4o-bot to play as safe as at all possible, OpenAI have launched Parental controls inside ChatGPT. First you have to link to your teens accounts, then you can set up notifications for «safety concerns,» reduce sensitive content, opt out of training, block memories, voice mode and image generations, and even set «quiet hours» when ChatGPT cannot be used. So the fun times with 4o for kid’s and adults alike, with brainstorms and exploring rabbit holes are officially a thing of the past. People took that stuff way too seriously, it seems.
More at: OpenAIs launch page, and a specific guide to the controls.