CNN
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Toys “R” Us is proving artificial intelligence could have a future in film.
The retail toy brand premiered a short promo film at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival in France this week that was created almost entirely by using OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool.
The company’s entertainment studio partnered with creative agency Native Foreign, which had early access to Sora. Toys “R” Us said it believes it is the first brand to debut a film using the technology. The tool is not yet publicly available.
The 66-second promo follows a young Toys “R” Us founder, Charles Lazarus, who had a vision to transform toy stores with the help of the brand’s mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe, who came to him in a dream. Reactions to the clip were mixed on social media, with some calling it a compelling, fascinating look into the future of film; others called it “creepy.”
Toys “R” Us said in a press release that in addition to Sora, it used some corrective visual effects and an original music score.
“Charles Lazarus was a visionary ahead of his time and we wanted to honor his legacy with a spot using the most cutting-edge technology available,” the company said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the creative agency told CNN that Toys “R” Us has not yet made a decision if the promo will become a TV ad.
In February, OpenAI – the company behind the viral ChatGPT chatbot – introduced the AI model Sora which it claimed can create realistic and imaginative videos from quick text prompts. It said the tool is capable of generating videos up to 60 seconds and can serve up scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion and detailed background details.
Following the announcement, experts said text-to-video types of AI models could have the potential to disrupt the digital entertainment market.
OpenAI has not yet announced an official release date for Sora but rumors indicate it could launch later this summer.