Just three months after announcing a major partnership with The Walt Disney Company, OpenAI is pulling the plug on its Sora video platform.
In a statement released yesterday, OpenAI confirmed the decision to shut down the tool entirely:
“We’re saying goodbye to Sora. To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing. We’ll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is stepping away from video-focused AI models altogether. A timeline for Sora’s closure has not been announced just yet, but users are expected to receive guidance on how to download or preserve their existing projects.
All of this comes shortly after Disney announced plans to invest $1 billion in equity stake tied to the OpenAI partnership. At the time, Sora was expected to play a role in user-generated short form content, and would be seen on Disney+. Users would have had access to more than 200 characters spanning Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars.
In Disney’s original examples, generated clips of showed a user wielding a lightsaber in Star Wars attire, surfing alongside Stitch, and lining up at a racetrack next to Lightning McQueen.
Variety has confirmed the entire Disney deal with OpenAI is over:
“Disney has now ended its partnership with OpenAI, which included plans for the media conglomerate to take a $1 billion stake in the artificial-intelligence company led by CEO Sam Altman.”
Disney addressed the change in a statement:
“As the nascent AI field advances rapidly, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere. We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it, and we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators.”
Disney’s comment suggests there will still be AI integration – likely with user generation in the future – even without Sora.
How do you feel about this news?
