casablanca – OpenAI has shut down its AI video generation app Sora less than two years after it gained global attention by generating highly realistic clips from simple prompts.
company Confirmed The decision, communicated to the BBC on Wednesday, said it was shifting its focus to other areas such as robotics and “agent” systems designed to complete tasks with minimal human intervention. The closures include both consumer apps and web-based platforms used by professionals.
At the same time, OpenAI is ending a $1 billion content partnership with The Walt Disney Company. Disney said it respects the decision and will continue to address intellectual property concerns while also looking at other AI platforms.
Sora was launched in 2024 and quickly gained attention for the quality of the videos it produced. However, questions about its business model persisted. According to Sensor Tower data, the app generated approximately $1.4 million in net in-app revenue worldwide, compared to $1.9 billion for ChatGPT over the same period.
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Analysts pointed to a deeper problem. Forrester’s Thomas Husson says Sora has limited monetization and is expensive to operate. The platform also faced ongoing challenges with non-consensual content, misinformation, and copyright infringement.
A deal with Disney announced in December allowed users to generate videos featuring characters such as Mickey Mouse and Yoda. This was seen as a major shift in how Hollywood interacts with AI. However, Reuters reported that no money was exchanged before the agreement was scrapped.
Competition has also intensified. Competing tools such as China’s Seedance gained attention after AI-generated videos featuring famous characters went viral online.
OpenAI said the technology behind Sora will now be used to train robots for real-world tasks. Image generation tools within ChatGPT are not affected.
This move is similar to that of many AI companies. Continue To operate without earning a stable profit. Despite increased investment and competition, high computing costs, infrastructure demands, and slow revenue growth remain challenges across the industry.
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