OpenAI Just Killed Sora 15 Months After Launch and Disney Is Probably Freaking Out Right Now

OpenAI dropped a bombshell this week: they're shutting down Sora, their AI video generator that lets you type a sentence and get a video back. The tool launched in late 2024 to massive hype, and now, just 15 months later, it's being put out to pasture.

This video from NBC News covering the announcement has racked up over 450,000 views in less than a day, and people are stunned.

"We're saying goodbye to Sora," OpenAI wrote on X. "To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you."

Here's the really awkward part: Disney invested $1 billion in OpenAI just three months ago, specifically to bring over 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters to Sora. That deal now looks like it's in serious trouble.

So why kill it? At a recent all-hands meeting, OpenAI executives reportedly said they were done being "distracted by side quests" and wanted to refocus on business and productivity tools. Basically, making cool videos wasn't paying the bills.

OpenAI did say they'll keep using the video tech behind the scenes to train robots, since videos are a good way to teach machines how the physical world works. But as a consumer product? Sora is done.

As reported by Ars Technica, NBC News, and The Guardian.

Source: Ars Technica