Big surprise at OpenAI, which shuts down its Sora video platform without explanation after concluding a referral agreement
OpenAI said Tuesday it will shut down Sora, the generative artificial intelligence video creation platform it launched last year, without giving a reason for the surprising decision, Variety reports.
“We're saying goodbye to Sora. To everyone who created with Sora, shared content made with it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing,” the OpenAI team responsible for the platform said in a statement published on Tuesday.
“We'll be back soon with more information, including calendars for the app and API, as well as details on preserving your work,” he promised.
OpenAI did not respond to requests for additional information from Variety.
OpenAI has partnered with Disney for Sora
The announcement is all the more surprising as it comes just three months after Disney signed a landmark agreement with OpenAI. Under the three-year licensing agreement, Sora could generate videos based on user commands using a set of more than 200 masked, animated characters or creatures from the Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars universes.
Sora and ChatGPT Images were to generate “fan-inspired” videos featuring licensed Disney characters earlier this year, and the Disney+ streaming platform was to feature a curated selection of Sora-generated videos.
Disney also planned to make a $1 billion investment in OpenAI.
A Disney representative said in a statement to Variety: “As the emerging field of artificial intelligence evolves rapidly, we respect OpenAI's decision to exit the video generation area and refocus its priorities. We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it, and we will continue to work with AI platforms to find new ways to reach fans where they are, responsibly adopting new technologies that respect intellectual property and rights.” creators”.
The video generation platform has raised concerns in the creative industry
The second version of Sora, released by OpenAI in September 2025, raised concerns in Hollywood over its “opt-out” model, which required intellectual property owners to actively signal whether they wanted their copyrighted works excluded from the system.
In November, Japanese entertainment industry organization CODA, whose members include animation studio Ghibli, sent a letter to OpenAI asking the company to stop using their content to train Sora 2.
