The text-to-video generator Sora has been retired as OpenAI has announced the retirement of the service. As a result, the contract with Disney was also terminated.
A few months after releasing its latest version, AI video app Sora is shutting down. OpenAI made a dramatic announcement last night (March 24), hours after the Wall Street Journal published a report on its plans.
Sora was originally released in December 2024, but it was Sora 2 that hit the headlines last September. A combination video generator and TikTok social app, it quickly proved capable of churning out stunningly realistic clips based on users’ text prompts.
The app also turned out to be particularly adept at piracy on a scale that would make Hollywood studios sweat. Within hours of launch, the internet was filled with viral clips of characters like Pikachu, Mario, SpongeBob, and real-world figures like the late scientist Stephen Hawking in a variety of unlikely scenarios.
OpenAI initially tried to say that copyright holders could “opt out” of having their characters and images displayed in Sora 2, but backtracked somewhat a few days later. “Guardrails” have been put in place, making it more difficult to generate videos that infringe on copyright.
Sora 2 made headlines again in February when Disney announced a $1 billion deal with OpenAI. The move would have embedded a video generator as a widget on Disney+, allowing subscribers to create and share short videos of Mouse House characters. Disney boss Bob Iger said the move would “drive engagement” and expected it to be rolled out in the second half of 2026.
Just weeks after that announcement, the contract with Disney was terminated. OpenAI is shutting down Sora because it wants to focus on other projects, including robotics that, ominously, “helps people solve real-world physical tasks,” the company says.
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Generative AI is also very expensive in terms of computational power, and even more so when generating videos. Last year, Forbes estimated that OpenAI spends $5 billion annually on video generation alone. This equates to $15 million per day. The company collects money through subscriptions, but it has previously been reported that it spends far more than it earns.
According to WSJ, OpenAI is said to be planning an initial public offering later this year. With an IPO looming, the company appears to have decided that losing the video slop generator might improve its financials on the prospectus a bit. (And we emphasize “almost” – even optimistically, OpenAI is not expected to be profitable until at least 2030.)
In any case, Sora will die soon. OpenAI wrote (or auto-generated) the following in a statement:
“We say goodbye to Sora. Thank you to everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it. What you created with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing. We’ll be sharing more details soon, including a timeline for our apps and APIs and details about preserving your work.”
In its own statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney said it respects “OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business.”
“We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it,” the spokesperson continued, “and we will continue to work with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are, while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and creator rights.”
Just a few months ago, there were predictions that Gen-AI would disrupt traditional filmmaking as we know it. That may not be the case yet, but Sora’s closure is the latest sign that an acquisition of the company may be as inevitable as its cheerleaders would have us believe.
But you may be wondering. Where do people go to make videos of SpongeBob cooking crystal meth? For now, we have Seedance. This is essentially Sora 2, but from the makers of TikTok. However, no one knows just how much fire the company that produces endless cat videos is under fire.
Stay tuned for more on the strange interrelationship between entertainment and money-losing AI technology.
