Sora Just Broke the Internet

This Week

Now that I’m back from two weeks off (and yes, it was glorious), we’re diving straight into the AI catch-up you didn’t know you needed.

A lot happened while I was away—OpenAI dropped new app integrations, Sora hit the App Store and promptly broke the internet, and MAICON reminded us that the future of AI is still deeply human. I’m covering it all this week.

Here’s what’s inside:

• The Internet Is Losing It Over Sora 2

• OpenAI Launches Apps Inside ChatGPT

• Half the Internet Is Now Written by AI

• The Future Is Human + Machine (MAICON 2025 recap)

• What’s Next for AI and the Experiences Sector (Arival AI Forum)

If you’re feeling a little behind, don’t worry, you’ll be fully caught up by the end of this email.

Read on.

The Internet is Losing it Over Sora 2

OpenAI’s new Sora app is flooding social feeds with AI-generated videos that look real enough to fool almost anyone and it’s sparking outrage across the internet.

OpenAI has come under fire for using copyrighted material in training data and for the risk of unauthorized likenesses appearing in videos. In response, the company announced new measures to protect creators and performers, including plans to work with actor unions to prevent deepfakes and tighten consent standards.

Behind the scenes, the Sora team has been training the model with advanced world simulation capabilities. The latest version can handle complex physical scenes, like Olympic gymnastics routines, backflips on paddleboards, and cats landing triple axels. It’s an impressive leap in realism, and that’s part of what makes it so unnerving.

After spending time in the app, I can confirm it’s incredibly unsettling. 

The feed is full of memes, OpenAI employees deepfaking themselves, and what can only be described as AI-generated slop. Despite the weirdness, it’s already surpassed one million downloads and climbed to the top of the App store charts.

Its standout feature, cameos, lets users record a short video and audio clip to capture their likeness, then drop themselves (or friends) into any Sora scene Inside the app, users can create, remix, and share videos in a TikTok-style feed.

While OpenAI frames Sora as a creativity tool, many see bigger issues. Legal experts are raising alarms about privacy, permissions, and the erosion of authenticity. When anyone can create studio-quality video in minutes, transparency becomes the only way to stay credible.

For marketers and creators, Sora is a creative playground and a reputational minefield. Brands will need to reinforce trust through behind-the-scenes content, verified creators, and clear disclosure of AI use. Small teams can harness Sora’s creative power, but the risk grows if audiences sense manipulation or fakery.

For individuals, understanding how your likeness is used, stored, and shared is critical. Even with controls to revoke access or remove videos, the privacy implications run deep.

Ready to try it out for yourself? You can download the Sora iOS app if you’re in the US and Canada.

Read the OpenAI announcement here.

ChatGPT’s New Apps Are Surprisingly Handy

This month, OpenAI launched Apps—interactive tools you can chat with inside ChatGPT. You don’t need to open a separate window or remember commands. You just mention the app by name or wait for ChatGPT to suggest it.

If you mention planning a trip, ChatGPT might suggest the Booking.com or Expedia app so you can browse options in the chat window. You can also invoke apps by name (e.g., “Spotify, make a playlist for my event”).

The idea is to save you from constant tab-switching, so instead of toggling over to another browser window, you’ll be able to brief, design, analyze or plan directly in-chat. 

I tested it out on Canva by asking it to turn an outline into a presentation and while it produced a decent first draft with images, layouts, and titles, it wasn’t a magic bullet: I still needed to replace several images, adjust layouts, and rewrite some text to get it presentation-ready. 

It’s a great jump-start tool but you’ll likely find yourself heading over to the application after the initial prompt for final edits and planning.

Apps you can access right now include:

• Booking.com & Expedia for travel booking

• Canva for create designs and presentations

• Coursera to take online courses

• Figma for design collaboration

• Spotify for music playlists

• Zillow for real estate browsing

All are available to logged-in ChatGPT users (Free, Go, Plus, and Pro).

Read the official announcement or open ChatGPT and try it for yourself. 

Catch all the Dev Day announcements here → OpenAI Dev Day

Half the Internet is Now Written by AI

A new study from SEO firm Graphite analyzed 65,000 articles and found that over 50% were AI-generated by May 2025, up from 39% a year after ChatGPT launched.

Don’t worry, there is some good news for copy writers: even though AI writing has improved in the last year, 100% AI generated articles often don’t rank.

Despite dominating publishing numbers, most AI-generated articles don’t appear in Google or ChatGPT search results. Graphite’s research shows that 86% of top Google-ranking articles were human-written, compared to just 14% that are AI-generated. Similarly, 82% of articles cited by AI chatbots were human-written, compared to 18% AI-created.

Read the full report here.

The Future is Human + Machine

What happens when 1,500 marketers gather to talk AI and end up talking about humanity? At MAICON 2025, the loudest message wasn’t about machines replacing us. It was about how we lead alongside them.

While I wasn’t able to attend the event, I’ve been working my way through the show notes and on demand content. One theme came through: as AI accelerates, human connection matters more than ever.

Marketing AI Institute founder Paul Roetzer summed it up: “People want that community feel. That ability to be with each other and inspire each other.” 

Roetzer’s keynote drew on the AlphaGo story—the moment an AI made a move no human could have predicted. His point is that every one of us will face that realization when AI outperforms us at parts of our job. 

He described the difference between using AI for 10% thinking (making existing processes faster, cheaper, and more efficient) and 10X thinking, (using AI to create entirely new forms of value). The former is optimization; the latter is innovation. And in his view, innovation is the only responsible, human-centered path forward.

As AI handles more of the routine, we need to lean into our human skills: creativity, strategy, empathy, and connection. 

If you missed the event, you can access MAICON 2025 on-demand sessions through the Marketing AI Institute site. I recommend starting with:

• Leading with Wonder: Turning Organizational Resistance into AI Readiness — Janette Roush, Brand USA

• How to Build AI Marketing Teammates: Custom GPTs in Action That Transform Teams — Liza Adams, GrowthPath Partners

• The Future of AI Marketing, A Silicon Valley Insider’s Perspective — Jeremiah Owyang, Blitzscaling Ventures

• 30 AI Tools Shaping the Future of Marketing — Mike Kaput, SmarterX & Marketing AI Institute

Access all the on demand sessions here.

What’s Next for AI and the Experiences Sector

I had the honor of emceeing the Arival AI Forum for Destination Experiences, and spent the day immersed in workshops, panels, and demos exploring how AI is reshaping the sector.

The experience level across the audience spanned everything from teams just getting started to innovators already “vibe coding” their own apps. In one workshop, a New York City tour company walked through six automations they’ve already built—from voice agents handling guest inquiries to AI triaging their customer emails.

I also spoke with operators who are eager to get started but don’t know where to begin, and one founder using AI-driven communication infrastructure to deliver always-available, multilingual support for people impacted by wildfires.

Across the sessions, the conversations were wide-ranging but deeply practical:

• How AI Search is changing discovery, booking, and distribution

• What new skills and structures teams need to work with AI

• How the industry is handling ethics and data trust

• Who wins the distribution wars (OTAs vs. Suppliers)

• How to build AI agents

Whether you’re optimizing workflows, experimenting with copilots, or rethinking your guest experience, this is the moment to start building.

If you missed the event, you can catch the AI Forum show wrap-up and on-demand sessions here on Arival’s site (available to Arival Insider subscribers).

Want to Level Up Your AI Game?

If your team is ready for a hands-on AI strategy session, my custom-designed workshops are built to uncover the workflows that can save you hours every week.

Prefer to start small? My YouTube channel is packed with quick, practical “how-to” videos that show you exactly how I use AI tools for marketing, content, and automation.

Planning an event or conference? I deliver high-energy AI sessions that engage audiences and leave them with actionable strategies they’ll talk about long after the event. Book me for your event here.