Selling Sora Beta Accounts for 299 Yuan! The Creativity of the Chinese Internet is Entirely Devoted to Selling Accounts
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As everyone knows, OpenAI recently made a big splash by introducing Sora, a text-to-video model.
Instantly, discussions about 'industry disruption,' 'unemployment alerts,' and various other claims started flying everywhere.
With the industry in a state of anxiety and information exploding, I had a vague feeling that certain people were about to make a fortune.
But I didn’t expect the money to come so quickly. This time, the product hasn’t even been released yet, and it has already fueled the rise of yet another course seller.
A self-proclaimed Tsinghua Ph.D. course-selling influencer flooded my WeChat Moments.
His 199-yuan introductory AI course sold over 520 copies just on the video platform, and the number is still rising.
Some even dug up that he sold 250,000 sets of this AI course in a year, with sales nearing 50 million yuan.
Under his Sora-related videos, some sarcastically commented: 'The only Chinese genius who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sam Altman.' However, after browsing the vast internet, I found that there are actually many more outrageous cases than his. A large number of people are already making money off the Sora hype online.
They mainly fall into two categories: one group sells accounts, while the other sells courses, with prices ranging from 99 to 999, essentially having no upper limit.
On public accounts, bizarre articles selling accounts emerge endlessly, such as those claiming "permanent activation of GPT-4.0+Sora," which would make anyone eager to jump on board immediately.
But when we clicked in, we found it was just selling GPT APIs.
Well, apart from the title mentioning Sora, the entire article had absolutely nothing to do with Sora.
On certain social media platforms, some people claim to have internal channels to obtain Sora beta accounts.
I immediately found an account seller and added them on WeChat, only for them to directly ask for 299.
Then they kept mentioning that internal channels couldn't change IP addresses for login, so I still couldn't use it myself and had to rely on their team for testing. But, after all, this is Sora. Maybe testing by proxy would work.
Just as I was about to transfer money to see what the fuss was about, they suddenly said they needed to focus on their own research and didn't have time to help me test.
Although I didn't lose any money this time, I couldn't shake the feeling of being led on.
If the account guys were masters of deception, then the course sellers were showcasing their own unique talents.
With Sora not even open for public testing yet, what exactly could these course sellers be teaching?
To find out, I, the ever-gullible one, spent 99 yuan on one of the more popular Sora courses on a paid platform.
In just a day or two, this course had already sold over 120 copies, easily raking in over ten thousand yuan.
Clicking into the course homepage, that all-too-familiar gold rush vibe was unmistakable. Phrases like "Be the first to eat the fish!" or "Exclusive first-hand information, first release on the entire internet" or "This year's biggest opportunity has emerged..." are designed to lure you in.
With such enticing claims, who could resist? You immediately transfer the payment.
But when you eagerly pay up, ready to enjoy your "fish," the tone suddenly shifts. They tell you: "Sora is still in beta testing," or "Account registration isn't open yet—only early paying users can access it, and there are only about 1,000 spots."
Don't worry, they kindly promise to share the account as soon as it's available.
Fine, no account for now, but at least I can learn something valuable, right?
But when you open the so-called learning materials, you find they've just translated a few official examples and statements from English to Chinese and tossed them in. A 33-page document, half of which is translated official examples.
When it comes to the real substance—like how to write prompts or practical operations—they quickly gloss over it, saying "stay tuned." After all, they haven't even launched yet—it's no surprise they can't provide practical demonstrations.
Apart from copying official case studies, the other half of their documentation consists entirely of ready-made articles from the internet, too lazy to even summarize them properly.
What a way to make money using others' work.
Of course, I'm also reflecting on why my own articles about Sora weren't selected by these course sellers.
At this point, you might think I've suffered a total loss this time.
But hold on—because these course sellers actually didn't treat me as an outsider. They shared all the current money-making methods involving Sora.
Except these money-making methods are quite... legally questionable. One of them involves getting you to sell courses too.
Another method is to have everyone launch an APP or domain that closely resembles Sora. Then, secretly connecting to other text-to-video platforms like Runway behind the scenes.
To put it bluntly, it's a bait-and-switch tactic—luring people in first and worrying about the consequences later.
Once Sora is officially released, they'll quietly switch back.
You could say they've managed to scam both traffic and money while leaving themselves an escape route. Truly, the more shameless (or 'smart') you are, the more money you can make.
Just as I was about to dig deeper to see if there were more tricks, the course suddenly displayed a message saying it could only be viewed after 72 hours.
This is because after 72 hours, consumers can no longer request refunds. Yes, it's all part of the scheme.
And when consumers feel the money wasn't worth it and complain in group chats—'Why no account? Why can't I download? Why are the materials insufficient?'—someone will inevitably jump in with the classic line: 'Paying is just giving yourself an opportunity.' In summary, although there's still no definite news on when Sora's official application will enter public beta, those selling courses and running scams have clearly "taken the lead."
It's no wonder that OpenAI officials had to step in to debunk rumors: "We haven't opened access yet, so don't get scammed, everyone."
Actually, this wave of Sora-related course-selling frenzy is understandable.
Since its debut, Sora has disrupted Adobe, sparking another round of anxiety about job losses among the general public.
Caption: Adobe's stock price plummeted by 7.41% the day after Sora's release (February 16).
Add to that the media's exaggerated praise, using terms like "milestone" and "era-defining."
Even in the securities sector, several well-known domestic brokerage firms didn't miss the hype, rushing to publish research reports. So when the hype reaches this point, some 'experts' come sniffing around.
When selling GPT courses, these course peddlers could at least argue it's knowledge monetization—buyers beware.
But with Sora, where the product isn't even out yet and almost no one in China has actually tried it, some dare to charge exorbitant prices. They're like rotten radishes—thoroughly spoiled.
Honestly, generative AI has been developing at breakneck speed these past two years. Nobody wants to miss the boat again, and this technological iteration has left everyone quite anxious.
If you want to learn how to use AI to improve work efficiency, spending a little to avoid fumbling in the dark is understandable.
But for something like Sora, which might need several more iterations before actual release, perhaps we should wait and see.
If you're determined to buy but don't know how to judge quality, here's a free tip worth hundreds: So far, if you see courses promising beta access as a bonus—run. Finally, I have a bold guess: the reason Altman hasn't made Sora available to everyone yet might be that he just bought a Sora course and hasn't finished learning it.