OpenAI shutters Sora after deepfake concerns

As of Tuesday, OpenAI is closing Sora across all its forms — including the consumer app and a professional platform that moviemakers and others used to create images for use in film, TV, and other media, the company told The New York Times.

"We're saying goodbye to Sora," the company said in a social media post. "What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing." The company offered no explanation for the decision.

The Times said the closure appears tied to an internal push to sharpen the company's priorities as it works toward a possible stock market listing as early as this year. The company reported roughly $13 billion in revenue for last year, but faces projected outlays of around $100 billion over the following four years, a significant portion of which is tied to expanding its data center infrastructure. Operating a revenue-free video app carries an outsized financial burden, the Times noted, as AI video generation consumes far greater amounts of energy and processing capacity than standard web products.

The shutdown follows a three-year licensing agreement OpenAI and Disney $DIS reached just three months ago, under which the studio permitted its characters — among them Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and Yoda — to be used in videos generated through the platform, according to the Times. The deal drew concern from parts of the industry, with some taking it as a signal that AI could eventually displace performers and behind-the-scenes talent.

OpenAI launched Sora in September, targeting the viewers — and potentially the ad revenue — that gather around short-form video on platforms including TikTok, YouTube, and Meta $META's Instagram and Facebook, according to NPR. Sora climbed to No. 1 on the Apple $AAPL App Store in the weeks after its debut but never came close to rivaling ChatGPT in terms of audience reach, the Times reported.

Before OpenAI moved to limit such videos, AI-generated content placed public figures — including Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mister Rogers — in outlandish situations; the company acted only after family estates and a union representing performers raised objections, according to NPR. Researchers, advocacy organizations, and industry observers had warned that the platform made it too easy to generate nonconsensual imagery and convincing deepfakes.

Disney said Tuesday it respects OpenAI's decision to exit video generation and that the studio plans to keep exploring AI partnerships that respect intellectual property and the rights of creators.

OpenAI told the Times it intends to retain its video-generation capabilities for internal use, applying them to robotics development — where synthetic video footage serves as a stand-in for real-world conditions when teaching machines new tasks.