Technologies
OpenAI’s New Social Media App Will Be All AI Videos, Thanks to New Sora 2 Model
The invite-only social media app will let you put yourself or your friends into AI-generated videos.

OpenAI wants our social media feeds to feature even more AI. Its AI video generator Sora is getting its own social media app, powered by a newly updated version of its AI video model called Sora 2, the company announced Tuesday via livestream.
The app will be a kind of social media platform, where you can follow your friends and share content. However, all of that content will be generated by AI. «It’s not posted by bots, it’s posted by humans, but it’s all AI-generated,» OpenAI’s Thomas Dimson said during the livestream. We’ll have to wait and see if the app does that or if it becomes another social media platform inundated with AI slop.
One of the biggest new features is Cameo, which lets you use your face or someone else’s face and insert it into an AI-generated scene. You can use other people’s likenesses to create videos if they’ve elected to have their cameos made public. You can also create videos with sound, a first for OpenAI and a feature that puts it on par with Google’s Veo 3, which stunned AI enthusiasts this summer. OpenAI said in a blog post that it’s also better at obeying the laws of physics, something AI video generators struggle with, thanks to better reasoning capabilities.
The app is currently only available to iPhone users. Android users will be able to use the new Sora through the web browser, but like iOS users, they’ll need an invite code. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
Sora 2 invite codes: How they work
You can download the Sora app now from the Apple App Store. Look for the app that’s made by OpenAI and features a blue and white cloud icon. Though you can download it now, you won’t be able to use it right away.
Sora is an invite-only app, so you’ll need a friend to give you an access code. Each Sora user will be given four invite codes. The app is best enjoyed with friends, OpenAI said during the livestream, which likely explains the more restricted access. An OpenAI spokesperson said the «rollout is starting now» for the initial batch of access codes and that the company will roll it out quickly.
For now, I recommend downloading the app and signing in with your ChatGPT account (or creating a new account, if you don’t have one). Once you’re logged in, you can request to be notified when access codes become available.
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Sora 2 content moderation and safety
A truly usable and enjoyable social media platform relies heavily on the app’s content moderation and safety policies. This is a thorny, complex area, and it’s not something OpenAI has had to deal with before for a true social media app.
The company is starting off with intentionally being «a little conservative with moderation,» per the livestream, which makes sense, as it did the same when it launched its image and video generation models. It also has guardrails in place to prevent people from creating X-rated and graphic content, according to the livestream. We’ll have to see how effective those blockers are once the invite codes start rolling out. AI videos downloaded from Sora will be watermarked, so they should be recognizable as AI when shared on other sites.
AI in social media
This isn’t the first time the idea for an OpenAI-branded social media app has been floated. The Verge reported this spring that CEO Sam Altman was exploring the idea of a social media app, with a more recent report from Wired this week giving us some early insight into what that app, which we now know as the Sora app, might be like.
AI has become a big part of social media. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has flooded its apps with Meta AI, introducing it in search and with AI personas you can chat with via DM. Meta also rebranded its smart glasses app Meta View into the Meta AI app in April, featuring a similar feed of AI-generated content. AI media generation tools like image and video generators have led to an increase in low-quality, useless content referred to as AI slop. Despite OpenAI’s goal to have the Sora app focus on human connection, it seems likely that the feeds will feature a lot of this AI slop.
OpenAI dropped the first version of Sora in 2024, but it hasn’t had any big updates since then. In the meantime, the company has added image generation to its ChatGPT chatbot, which initially took off and started a trend of people using the model to create images of themselves in the iconic cartoon-like style of Studio Ghibli. The trend also amplified the ethical and legal concerns that come with AI media generation.
Technologies
iPhone 17 Preorders Spike and Overall Phone Sales Aren’t Slowing Down Despite Tariffs
Global smartphone shipments saw a notable increase in the third quarter of 2025. Plus, preorders for Apple’s new iPhone 17 beat out the iPhone 16.

Despite tariffs and market uncertainty, global smartphone shipments increased 2.6% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to the same time last year, according to the International Data Corporation. Additionally, preorders for the iPhone 17, which launched last month, outpaced last year’s iPhone 16.
These increased sales include premium phones like the latest iPhones and Samsung foldables, suggesting yet again that pricier phones still sell in periods of economic strain. It’s a remarkable achievement, says IDC senior research director Nabila Popal, citing shrewd financing options as the reason people keep buying these high-end phones, which cost anywhere from $800 to nearly $2,000.
«[Phone makers] have mastered the art of innovation not only in hardware and software to entice upgrades but also in removing purchase friction. They have flawlessly combined cutting-edge devices with innovative financing models and aggressive trade-in programs that make the upgrading decision a ‘no-brainer’ for consumers,» Popal said in an IDC press release.
Apple sold 58.6 million iPhones this quarter, an increase of 2.9% over the same period in 2024, with more preorders for the iPhone 17 series than its predecessor. But Samsung wasn’t far behind, with its Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 selling better than all of the company’s prior foldables. The company still reigns atop the phone market with 61.4 million phones sold, representing 19% of the market in the third quarter of this year — an increase of 6.3% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Apple lands slightly behind Samsung with 18.2% market share this quarter.
The other phone makers trailing Apple and Samsung are, in order: Xiaomi, with 13.5% of the market; Transsion, with 9%; and Vivo with 8.9%. The remaining companies in the phones industry, from Chinese stalwarts like Oppo and Honor to Motorola and Google, make up the remaining 31.4% of the market for the quarter. All told, 322.7 million phones were sold, up from 314.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, according to IDC.
IDC’s findings for the third quarter continue the small but steady growth of phone sales over the year, including a modest 1% increase in the preceding three months — which includes the April deadline when President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs. In the second quarter, IDC cited midrange devices like Samsung’s Galaxy A36 and other phones that started incorporating AI. But even persistent tariffs haven’t slowed down people’s appetites for pricier phones in the third quarter.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS
5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW
6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE
7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD
8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE
9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS
2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS
3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART
4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES
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