OpenAI Stuns Tech World by Permanently Shutting Down Popular Video Generation Platform 'Sora' After Just Six Months

San Francisco. Artificial Intelligence (AI) leader OpenAI has made the shocking announcement that it is permanently shutting down its highly popular video generation platform, 'Sora'. Just six months after its public debut, the company decided to remove it from all its products, developer tools, and the video creation feature within ChatGPT.

The official Sora account confirmed this news via X (formerly Twitter), bidding farewell to its users. The company stated it will soon announce the timeline for completely discontinuing the Sora app and its API.

According to Reuters, this decision was made within half an hour of a crucial meeting with Disney executives. Last year, Disney had agreed to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and utilize over 200 characters from Marvel and Star Wars through Sora.

This sudden move by OpenAI has greatly angered Disney officials. Although no money has changed hands yet, a Disney spokesperson has labeled it a 'major betrayal.'

Why was Sora shut down?

Three main reasons appear to be behind the closure of Sora:
1. Excessive Cost and Power Consumption: Significant investment in servers and GPUs used for video production, along with high electricity consumption, was noted. The company now wishes to redirect these resources towards more profitable productivity tools.

2. Financial Pressure and Losses: OpenAI is projected to incur losses exceeding $14 billion this year. As the company prepares for an IPO by the end of this year, it has adopted a policy of closing non-essential projects to reduce losses.

3. Competition with Anthropic: OpenAI is currently operating in 'code red' mode due to intense competition from rivals like Anthropic in the market.

Deepfake and Security Challenges

The 'character' feature within the Sora app became a major headache for the application. Users began misusing this feature to create objectionable deepfake videos of famous personalities and historical figures. The app was even filled with disturbing videos of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself.

The daughters of legends like Martin Luther King Jr. and Robin Williams had to appeal via Instagram not to create deepfakes of their late fathers.

Sharp Decline in Downloads and Revenue
Statistics show that Sora's popularity plummeted rapidly. Downloads, which reached 3.3 million in November, shrank to 1.1 million by February. Compared to ChatGPT's 900 million weekly active users, Sora's numbers were negligible. Furthermore, it only generated $2.1 million from selling video credits, which is significantly less than the cost required to run it.

What is the plan now?
Even with Sora shut down, the threat is not entirely gone. The company has kept its powerful Sora 2 model secured behind the paid version of ChatGPT. OpenAI's entire focus will now shift towards integrating ChatGPT, Codex, and the AI browser Atlas to create a super app.

Additionally, the company has added experts like Peter Steigenberger to its team to develop an agentic AI system capable of making autonomous decisions.