In a surprise move, OpenAI will shut down video app Sora AI, just months after it was first launched.
“We’re saying goodbye to Sora. And to everyone who created with, shared, and built a community around Sora: thank you,” the company said in a statement. “What you did with Sora was important, and we know this news is disappointing. We’ll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API, and details about keeping you working.”
A source familiar with the matter says Hollywood Reporter Disney is also exiting the deal it signed with OpenAI last year, in which it pledged to invest $1 billion in the company and agreed to license some of its characters for use in Sora.
OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, isn’t getting out of the AI video business (AI video is one of many tools that could take shape in ChatGPT), of course, but it looks like the standalone Sora app will be a victim of its own cutting-edge ambitions.
Sora was released last fall, shocking and astonishing Hollywood with its liberal use of established intellectual property and well-known actors. The company was forced to backtrack just days after its launch, giving Hollywood studios and talent more control over their intellectual property and looks on the platform.
But the app’s closure also raises questions for Disney, which signed a huge deal to invest in OpenAI last December in exchange for adding some of its characters to Sora. The goal, of course, was to integrate the technology into Disney+ itself.
Now the OpenAI deal is dead, though the company may sign a deal with another AI giant.
“With rapid progress in the emerging field of artificial intelligence, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video production business and shift its priorities elsewhere,” a Disney spokesperson said. “We value the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we have learned from it, 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 intellectual property and creator rights.”
Although innovative AI is changing video development and production, it looks like Sora will end up as a footnote, rather than a game-changing piece of software.
It also puts Google in a position of power when it comes to AI video creation, making it the only large-scale player in the space, even though it has yet to sign any deals with intellectual property rights holders (and in fact is facing lawsuits from some of them).
