OpenAI promised a tool called 'Media Manager' in May 2024 that would allow creators and content owners to opt-out of having their content used in AI training. However, as 2025 begins, the tool remains undelivered and appears to be a low priority for the company.

The original announcement described Media Manager as a groundbreaking tool that would use machine learning to identify copyrighted text, images, audio, and video across multiple sources. OpenAI positioned it as their response to criticism about using internet content for AI training without permission.

Recent insights from TechCrunch reveal that the project has seen little to no progress:

• Former OpenAI employees confirm no one was actively working on the tool
• Fred von Lohmann, who led the Media Manager project, has left his full-time position
• The company hasn't publicly mentioned Media Manager since the May 2024 announcement

This delay becomes particularly relevant as OpenAI's new Sora model continues to generate content that includes copyrighted material. The company faces multiple class action lawsuits from artists, writers, news organizations, and YouTubers over unauthorized use of their work.

The situation highlights the ongoing tension between AI companies' need for training data and content creators' rights to control how their work is used. Despite OpenAI's previous claims about the impossibility of creating AI models without copyrighted content, they have yet to provide creators with the promised opt-out mechanism.

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