Sora, a social media platform that only features videos generated by generative artificial intelligence (AI), will cease operations despite only being launched in October last year. OpenAI did not give a reason for Sora's sudden shutdown at this time.
According to a social media post, Sora will share how user-generated videos can be downloaded for personal storage. Sora is the first app from OpenAI to be shut down after its launch. Sora's shutdown is similar to the short video platform Quibi, which shut down six months after its launch.
Initially, it became a viral app due to its ability to generate short videos that looked realistic, resulting in a lawsuit from a major film studio due to intellectual property infringement.
However, it was the catalyst for Disney to invest $1 billion in OpenAI to use Sora's technology. According to the Hollywood Reporter, due to Sora's shutdown today, Disney will not continue the investment it promised in December last year.
Despite being viral with a high number of users, not many users subscribed. OpenAI is reported to be losing $15 million a day because the videos are generated for free. With economic pressures due to the Middle East conflict and OpenAI making major investments in building data centers, continuing to burn money through Sora may not be the best option.
