Just six months after launching as a standalone app, the Sora AI video generator app is heading off into the sunset. The move is quite surprising as Google has ramped up its AI video efforts with Veo, while Chinese AI labels continue to deliver impressive results with products like viral AI video engine Seedance.
A quick death for a viral AI tool
“What you did with Sora was important, and we know this news is disappointing. We will share more soon, including timelines for the app and API, as well as details about preserving your work,” OpenAI said in a post. Interestingly, it was recently reported that OpenAI could potentially integrate Sora video generation capabilities into ChatGPT, similar to how Google has integrated video generation into products like Gemini and NotebookLM.
Shortly after its debut, controversy over copyright infringement arose. Soon after, the company made a course correction, giving rights holders like Disney more control, and other companies with famous franchises often reproduced or copied Sora. Apparently the problems were a bit too big and there was simply no money coming in.
What’s next for Sora?
It would have made sense to discontinue the Sora app but keep it alive elsewhere. But it seems Sora will be put on hold forever. According to the Wall Street Journal, the AI video generator will disappear for good. “In addition to the consumer app, OpenAI is also discontinuing a version of Sora for developers and will also not support video functionality in ChatGPT,” the outlet reports.
Sora was among the first wave of mainstream AI products to bring pointless “AI slop” videos to the internet. Aside from the obvious copyright violations, it has been exploited for some morbidly disturbing trends. For example, it has been used to create eerily realistic videos of deceased public figures, including Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Amy Winehouse.
These videos caused quite a stir on the internet. But it won’t be the first case of its kind. AI started a whole trend where companies charged money to create videos of dead soldiers as a family farewell for their families.
