OpenAI drops AI video tool Sora, startling Disney, sources say

On Monday evening, Walt Disney Co and OpenAI teams ​were working together on a project linked to Sora, OpenAI's AI video tool. Just 30 minutes after that meeting, the Disney ‌team was blindsided with word that OpenAI was dropping the tool altogether, a person familiar with the matter said.

OpenAI announced the move publicly on Tuesday.

"It was a big rug-pull," according to the person, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter.

The move is the first big step by the ChatGPT maker to focus its business on potentially more lucrative areas such as ​coding tools and corporate customers.

But the abrupt cancellation of Sora illustrates how messy the streamlining process may become as OpenAI prepares for a stock ​market debut that could come as early as later this year.

The Sora decision means the end of a blockbuster $1 billion ⁠deal between Disney and the ChatGPT maker that was announced a little more than three months ago. As part of the three-year deal, Disney said it would ​invest $1 billion in OpenAI and lend more than 200 of its iconic characters to be used in short, AI-generated videos.

But the transaction between the companies never ​closed, two other people familiar with the matter said, and no money changed hands.

OpenAI executives have been debating Sora's fate for some time. Running the AI video app required significant computational resources, a fourth person with knowledge of the matter said, and left other teams with less firepower.

Even so, some OpenAI staffers on the Sora team were surprised when they were ​informed of the changes Tuesday morning, one of the people and another source said. The announcement was made just a day after OpenAI published a blog ​post about Sora safety standards.

"We're saying goodbye to Sora ... we know this news is disappointing," the Sora team said in a post on X, adding that timelines for the ‌app and ⁠API, as well as details on preserving user work, would be shared later.