OpenAI shuts Sora and drops Disney deal in AI reset
OpenAI has shut down Sora, its AI video app, less than two years after the tool made headlines for turning short text prompts into strikingly realistic video clips.
The company is also winding down its content partnership with Disney, bringing an abrupt end to one of the most closely watched tie-ups between Hollywood and a major AI group.
OpenAI told the BBC it had discontinued Sora so it could focus on other areas, including robotics and “agentic” systems designed to carry out tasks with limited human oversight.
The Big Tech said the same technology used to train AI to generate realistic video could instead help train robots to handle “real world, physical tasks”.
A spokesperson for Disney said: “We respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere.”
They added that Disney would continue exploring other AI platforms to find ways to use the technology responsibly without infringing intellectual property rights.
OpenAI said it is closing both the consumer Sora app and the web-based platform used by professional creators. Image generation tools within ChatGPT are not affected.
A short-lived deal
Sora launched in 2024 to intense global interest, with clips that often looked as though they had been produced by a professional studio.
But the technology also raised immediate concerns in Hollywood and beyond about copyright, deepfakes and the potential use of AI to replace parts of the creative workforce.
Those concerns intensified after Disney signed a three-year deal with OpenAI in December, becoming the first major studio to license intellectual property to Sora.
The agreement would have allowed users to generate AI video using more than 200 Disney characters, including those from Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
The deal was widely seen as a landmark moment for the relationship between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, particularly as other studios were pursuing or considering legal action against AI companies over the use of copyrighted material.
But the partnership now appears to have ended before it properly began. According to reports, the transaction never formally closed and no money changed hands.
The closure of Sora also comes amid growing competition in AI-generated video. Rivals including China’s Seedance have gained traction in recent months, while OpenAI has faced pressure to focus its computing power on higher-growth products such as coding tools, business services and robotics.
The move is likely to raise fresh questions about OpenAI’s priorities as it pursues a much larger commercial strategy, including a possible stock market listing.