OpenAI kills Sora
OpenAI abruptly shut down Sora, its viral AI short‑video app, cancelling a reported $1bn deal with Disney and blaming rising compute costs and deepfake concerns — less than two years after launch. The closure signals a pullback from flashy generative‑video experiments as the company refocuses on core products and legal/safety risk reduction. (bbc.com)
OpenAI first previewed Sora in February 2024, shipped an integrated Sora feature to ChatGPT Plus users in December 2024, and released a standalone Sora app on September 30, 2025. (techcrunch.com) OpenAI’s early artist program included roughly 300 invited visual creators, and a small group leaked an early build to Hugging Face in late 2024 — OpenAI cut tester access about three hours after that leak. (digitalmusicnews.com) Sora’s second‑generation model, Sora 2, was unveiled with upgraded physics, synchronized audio and longer clip and extension capabilities when the standalone app launched in September 2025. (techcrunch.com) The multi‑year licensing and investment arrangement announced with The Walt Disney Company in December 2025 — widely reported as a roughly $1 billion pact to bring Disney characters into Sora experiences — has been wound down after the product decision. (venturebeat.com) User metrics show a viral debut followed by a sharp drop in installs and in‑app revenue in the months after launch, and OpenAI previously limited video generation for some users amid capacity constraints and high compute requirements. (contentgrip.com) The company posted the product update on X on March 24, 2026 and said it would provide timelines for the app, API and how creators can preserve their work while the partnership with Disney is wound down. (nbcnews.com)
