Sora's Next Big Trick: Popular Brand Mascots In AI Videos

OpenAI's text-to-video Sora 2 AI model went viral as soon as the company released the TikTok-style Sora AI app a few weeks ago. Sora rose to the top of the App Store quickly, as fans employed the AI video generation to create all sorts of clips, many of them featuring their likeness, aka the Cameo feature. Since then, OpenAI made a few significant updates to keep the Sora momentum going. A few days ago, Sora dropped the invite system and expanded the availability of the app to more international markets. OpenAI also introduced Character Cameos, a feature that lets users turn objects and pets into characters for their videos, as seen below. On Tuesday, OpenAI released the Sora app for Android, which is now available in several markets.

According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI has more plans for Sora, to ensure the app stays relevant with users. OpenAI wants brands to make their popular mascots available in the Sora app, including support for Cameos that other Sora users could use.

Yes, this is the official Sora handle. pic.twitter.com/XYAX1Uhd9Y

— Sora (@soraofficialapp) November 4, 2025

OpenAI's vice president of media partnerships, Varun Shetty, gave the Journal an example of such a mascot Cameo in Sora. McDonald's could upload an image of the Ronald McDonald mascot to its own account and then let users include it in their creations. McDonald's would have the ability to restrict the appearance of the mascot in specific types of content, including violent or political videos. It could also restrict mascot access to selected users.

Shetty's example is hypothetical. It's not a confirmation that McDonald's mascot will appear in the Sora app, or that other fast-food-related mascots will be turned into official Cameos soon. But the Journal says OpenAI has been negotiating with unspecified major brands for commercial applications of intellectual property. The report notes that OpenAI wants these companies to "help build Sora 2's popularity by proactively approving their intellectual property for use on the platform." It's unclear when the first mascots will come to the app in an official capacity.

Unofficially, Sora users have already used copyrighted content in AI videos. The report provides several examples, including Ronald McDonald appearing in AI videos showing the mascot driving a hamburger car, speaking to police investigating a domestic violence call, and attempting to buy a Big Mac from Burger King. The report also notes that while the AI videos created with the Sora 2 model were removed from the Sora app, those clips are still available on other social networks, including TikTok, X, and YouTube.

Other examples of IP content used without consent in the Sora app include Paramount's SpongeBob SquarePants and Nintendo's Pikachu. The WWE logo and other recognizable trademarks were used in Sora-generated wrestling fights between various characters.

we are launching the ability to buy extra gens in sora today. we are doing this for two main reasons:

first, we have been quite amazed by how much our power users want to use sora, and the economics are currently completely unsustainable. we thought 30 free gens/day would be...

— Bill Peebles (@billpeeb) October 30, 2025

Using mascots in Sora AI videos might not be available for free to users. The Journal points out that OpenAI's head of Sora, Bill Peebles, said on X a few days ago that the company is considering a monetization option where rights holders may be able to charge for Cameos of "beloved characters and people." It's unclear if such monetization options would apply to mascots like the Ronald McDonald example.