OpenAI’s Viral Sora AI Video app has been discontinued

OpenAI certain On Tuesday, it will discontinue its once-popular AI video app. Sora. OpenAI Billion dollar deal with Disneywhich included licensing more than 200 Disney characters to appear on Sora, will also end.

“We have decided to discontinue Sora in the consumer application and API,” an OpenAI spokesperson told CNET. “As we focus and account for growing demand, the Sora research team continues to focus on global simulation research to develop robots that will help people solve real-world physical tasks.”

There is no timetable for stopping the application. Sora will also be removed from the API. The news was first This was reported by the Wall Street Journal.

While last fall was all about generative media, 2026 will see AI companies focusing on business-oriented products. Anthropic has stunned the industry with its products CloudCork tools and codewhich uses advanced and generative technology. Head of Applications at OpenAI, Fidji Simo, It is said It told employees earlier this month that it would cut back on “side tasks” to focus on more core activities, presumably programming and other enterprise tools.

Given all this, it’s not surprising to hear OpenAI say it will halt Project Sora. But for OpenAI to pull the plug on such a large public project is an important sign of distrust from one of the big giants of the generative media industry.

Sora is a unique app, part AI and part social media. It lets you create AI videos showcasing your own photos and other Sora users, which you can scroll through like you would in your TikTok feed. The videos were so realistic that they raised concerns among celebrities, public figures and advocacy groups that the technology could be used Create deep fakes. Sora was also one of many AI models that contributed to this The growing dumping ground for artificial intelligence online.

A Walt Disney Company spokesperson told CNET: “With rapid progress in the emerging field of artificial intelligence, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and shift its priorities elsewhere. We value the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we’ve learned from it, and we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while embracing new technologies that respect intellectual property and the rights of creators.”

If Disney pursues a new deal with another AI company, it will do so A large number of optionsincluding more professional settings for Google and Runway. But video generators like Sora are controversial. On the same day, Disney announced its deal with entertainment giant OpenAI Google slapped with a copyright infringement suitAlleging that Gemini AI helped people create exact replicas of characters that are Disney’s intellectual property.