The first Sora-made music video is here

What happens when an indie musician wants to shoot an epic, cinematic music video on a shoestring budget? Usually, you scale down your script. But Washed Out decided to throw it at OpenAI's unreleased Sora instead.

Record label Sub Pop told the Los Angeles Times that the music video for Washed Out’s single "The Hardest Part," released on May 2, marks the first official collaboration between a major recording artist, a filmmaker, and Sora. It also stands as the longest video created with AI to date.

700 generations for 55 usable clips

While Sora remains closed to the general public, director Paul Trillo was granted free access to the model.

This wasn't a magic one-click generation, though. Over the course of six weeks, Trillo generated roughly 700 clips from text prompts, manually sifting through the pile to stitch together 55 usable shots. The total production budget wasn't disclosed, but the creative team claims Sora allowed them to achieve massive visual scale without blowing their budget.

"A lot of music videos just don’t have the budgets to really dream big," Trillo told the Los Angeles Times, adding that AI can help artists realize things they previously wouldn't have dared to dream.

Backlash from artists and fans alike

Not everyone in the creative world is celebrating, however.

Just last month, over 200 artists—including Billie Eilish, J. Balvin, and the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra—signed an open letter demanding stricter regulations on AI tools across the music business.

K-pop acts have already tested these waters, and the reception was chilly. On April 23, boy group RIIZE dropped an "AI Generated Visualizer" for their single "Impossible," prompting fans to comment that "it's not too late to delete this." The next day, boy group Seventeen released a teaser intentionally using AI clips to pose a philosophical critique, asking on-screen: "In our current reality where anything can be created with AI, who is the real maestro?"

Viewers of "The Hardest Part" were similarly unimpressed. "The more you look at it the worse it gets," one commenter wrote. Another bluntly summed up the mood: "The future is underwhelming."

Why it matters

We think this project grounds the Sora hype in reality: text-to-video isn't a silver bullet that replaces filmmaking overnight, but a lottery ticket generator with a massive discard pile.

Spending six weeks to cull 55 shots out of 700 proves that directing generative video is still a gruelling editorial grind. It definitely saves small creators the exorbitant costs of practical sets, scouting, and massive crews, letting indie artists punch above their budget weight. But for creators demanding precise framing, character consistency, and polish, the efficiency gains remain questionable when prompt roulette takes over.

More importantly, the cultural pushback is very real. Music thrives on human connection, and audiences are already showing fatigue with plastic-looking AI textures. Until generative tools offer predictable control and labels figure out how to address artist backlash, AI video in pop culture will remain a novelty that risks alienating fans rather than inspiring them.