OpenAI is shutting down Sora, the AI video generator that briefly unsettled the media industry when it launched, in a strategic retreat that has also ended the company's partnership with Disney.
The closure comes approximately six months after Sora's public debut. According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the decision, the move is part of a continued effort by OpenAI to focus on coding tools and so-called agent software — products that can perform tasks autonomously on a user's behalf.
CNBC reported that cost discipline is also a factor, noting that OpenAI is reining in expenses as it scales its core business. The company has been burning through capital at a significant rate, having raised $6.6bn in a funding round in late 2024 at a $157bn valuation.
The Disney fallout sharpens the commercial sting. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both reported that Disney had been planning an investment of up to $1bn linked in part to the Sora partnership; that deal will not proceed. Disney's exit removes a high-profile enterprise anchor that OpenAI had used to signal Sora's relevance to the content industry.
Sora had been positioned as OpenAI's entry into generative video, a market that has drawn competing products from Google, Meta and a cluster of well-funded startups including Runway and Pika. Its closure suggests OpenAI concluded the category was either too capital-intensive or too peripheral to its core monetisation strategy to justify continued investment at this stage.
OpenAI has not publicly detailed the timeline for winding down user access or the fate of the team behind Sora.
