OpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney deal

On Tuesday afternoon, OpenAI announced “We’re saying goodbye to Sora,” the video generation tool that it launched at the end of 2024, and centered in a massive licensing deal with Disney only a few months ago. The Wall Street Journal reported the move earlier, saying that OpenAI boss Sam Altman had informed staff that both the TikTok-like Sora app and API access for developers would be discontinued, with no plans to roll the feature into ChatGPT as had previously been rumored.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, as a result, the deal Disney announced in December, saying it would invest $1 billion in OpenAI, license its characters for use within Sora, and send AI-generated videos into Disney Plus, is also coming to an end. On the same day, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told CNBC that the company had raised an additional $10 billion from investors, as the company moves toward a potential IPO, on top of the $110 billion fundraising round announced in February.

OpenAI hasn’t responded to a request for comment or otherwise explained the shift, but there have been signs of a focus on practical adoption over “side quests” following Altman’s declaration of a “code red” a few months ago over possible slippage in the battle between ChatGPT vs. Google Gemini.

Last week, the WSJ reported OpenAI is working on a ChatGPT desktop “superapp” to simplify its product lineup around Codex and its AI browser, which exec Fidji Simo commented on, tweeting, “Companies go through phases of exploration and phases of refocus; both are critical. But when new bets start to work, like we’re seeing now with Codex, it’s very important to double down on them and avoid distractions. Really glad we’re seizing this moment.”

A report from Reuters says that Sora’s future had been debated by company execs for some time, as running it required so much compute power that it left other teams working with less, and that no money ever changed hands between OpenAI and Disney. However, it notes the sudden announcement apparently caught employees by surprise too, coming a day after OpenAI posted about Sora’s safety standards.

It also notes that the former Meta and Instacart exec Simo has a new title now, going from CEO of applications to “CEO of AGI deployment,” while Altman reportedly said that the company’s security and safety teams aren’t reporting directly to him.

Sora:

An important update about Sora: Today, after careful internal discussion about our broader research priorities, we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue the Sora app.

We know many of you invested significant time and energy into Sora – building not just gens, but also audiences and real communities. The creativity that emerged exceeded what we could have expected.

Our focus now is on making this transition as clear and thoughtful as possible. We’ll share timelines and access details so you can plan accordingly, and we’re exploring ways to support export and preservation of your work. Thank you for creating with Sora, for being part of this community, and for coming on this journey. More soon.

Update, March 25th: Added note from the Sora app, and additional details from CNBC and Reuters.