News: 0181097990

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

OpenAI Discontinues Sora Video Platform App

(Tuesday March 24, 2026 @06:00PM (BeauHD) from the fun-while-it-lasted dept.)


OpenAI is shutting down Sora, its generative-AI video creation platform it [1]launched in December 2024. "The move is one of a number of steps OpenAI is taking to refocus on business and coding functions ahead of a potential initial public offering as soon as the fourth quarter of this year," reports the [2]Wall Street Journal .

CEO Sam Altman announced the changes to staff on Tuesday. "We're saying goodbye to Sora," the Sora Team said in [3]a post on X. "To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing. We'll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work."

Last week, OpenAI announced plans to combine its Atlas web browser, ChatGPT app, and Codex coding app into a [4]singular desktop "superapp ." "We realized we were spreading our efforts across too many apps and stacks, and that we need to simplify our efforts," said CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo. "That fragmentation has been slowing us down and making it harder to hit the quality bar we want." This could behind the decision to kill Sora as the company redirects its resources and top talent towards productivity tools that benefit both enterprises and individual users.



[1] https://slashdot.org/story/24/12/09/2122253/openai-launches-sora-video-generator

[2] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-set-to-discontinue-sora-video-platform-app-a82a9e4e

[3] https://x.com/soraofficialapp/status/2036532795984715896?s=20

[4] https://slashdot.org/story/26/03/20/1711251/openai-plans-launch-of-desktop-superapp



Orly? (Score:3, Funny)

by CEC-P ( 10248912 )

"Guys, for real, we're doing fine financially. Ignore the dozen lawsuits and lack of stable income and customer perception of our products. We're cancelling Sora because we don't like it. That's the reason. Trust me!" - Sam Altman, probably (paraphrased).

Re:Orly? [Eh? Asking for solution?] (Score:2)

by shanen ( 462549 )

I think that Subject was an artifact of a lust to FP. Care to explain? Most obvious candidate was "Only?", but I don't see how to fit it to the context. Maybe you mean that OpenAI should discontinue something else?

But I did have a funny idea. Another simplistic solution approach for the big problems (and of course doomed to fail for that reason among others). I'm a big believer in free speech, but here's a funny idea:

Should there be a tax on the profits from for-profit free speech?

Of course you should be ab

Really? (Score:4, Interesting)

by the_skywise ( 189793 )

"Focus on core values"

Yeah, BS.

Disney made a major investment and had them shut Sora down so Disney can use it in house exclusively.

Re: (Score:2)

by applique ( 1526743 )

Disney cancelled the deal: [1]https://www.hollywoodreporter.... [hollywoodreporter.com]

[1] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/openai-shutting-down-sora-ai-video-app-1236546187/?taid=69c2f7283209350001259404

Re: (Score:2)

by the_skywise ( 189793 )

Interesting... I'd be surprised that Sam would leave a BILLION on the table. I wonder if Disney pulled the plug with the new CEO trying to curry favor with the actor's union and that's why OpenAI decided to "refocus"

What!? (Score:2)

by 50000BTU_barbecue ( 588132 )

But how will morons entertain even dumber morons with AI slop cat videos???

Re: (Score:3)

by supremebob ( 574732 )

Cat videos? Nah. Sora was all about bringing dead actors back to life in dumb 10 second skit comedies.

I'll bet that they generated about 20 TB of just Wilford Brimley memes, he was like the patron saint of that service.

Re: (Score:3)

by PPH ( 736903 )

Never mind this. When will the Retool and MongoDB ad banners meet in the middle?

Writing vs. Production (Score:2)

by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 )

You're complaining about the content, essentially the "writing" of the "show". When properly instructed Sora could write decent shows. But, regardless of teh content. Sora's production quality is amazing.

Yes, cat videos suck because of the suject matter. But, the image quality and music that Sora produced is amazingly good and any old fool has the capability to make fantastic content with it.

Re: (Score:3)

by nightflameauto ( 6607976 )

> Yes, cat videos suck because of the suject matter.

Take it back, or get off the Internet.

SORA (Score:2)

by rossdee ( 243626 )

The Sherwood Oaks Residents Association had no comment to make.

Well, that's a progression (Score:4, Interesting)

by Turkinolith ( 7180598 )

OpenAI, from a non-profit pushing the tech forward, to a for-profit that tried to hold its position, to trying to become a public traded so their now trimming stuff to be more "investor friendly".

Ah, it's like the cycle of "enshitification" in rapid fire.

RIP small business options (Score:1)

by epicbread ( 4929749 )

RIP also to all those little startups that use Sora to make ai video clips that popped up everywhere, especially the ones which offered lifetime access options..

It's obsolete (Score:2)

by Ken_g6 ( 775014 )

The LTX 2 series appears able to do all the same things locally.

They can't afford it. (Score:1)

by supabeast! ( 84658 )

OpenAI probably shut Sora down so the Sora budget can go somewhere with a better looking future. Every week Altman's plans for data centers full of NVIDIA chips gobbling up incredible amounts of nuclear power get bigger. That money has to come from somewhere.

What If Bill Gates Was a Stand-Up Comedian?

1. None of his jokes would be funny.
2. Subliminal message hyping Microsoft and Windows 98 would be inserted
throughout his performance.
3. The audio system (running Windows NT) would always crash right before Bill
got to a punch line. At that time one of the managers would announce,
"Please hold tight while we diagnose this intermittent issue."
4. Tickets for Bill's show would be handed out for free in an attempt to
attract customers away from Netscape's shows.
5. Industry pundits would call Bill's show "innovative" and would ask "Why
doesn't IBM have a stand-up routine? This is exactly why OS/2 is failing in
the market."
6. Bill's show would be called "ActiveHumor 98"
7. In a perfect imitation of his Windows 95 OS, Bill wouldn't be able to tell
a joke and walk around at the same time.
8. Audience members would have to sign a License Agreement in which one of the
terms is "I agree never to watch Linus Torvalds' show, 'GNU/Humorux'".
9. All audience members would receive a free CD of Internet Explorer 4.0, with
FakeJava(R) and ActiveHex(tm) technology.
10. Bill Gates would appear on Saturday Night Live, causing ratings to drop
even further.