OpenAI is discontinuing Sora, its consumer AI video app and API, amid waning user interest and growing internal compute demands, the company said. First reported by the Wall Street Journal, the move shifts resources toward “world simulation” research to advance robotics, while OpenAI keeps ChatGPT’s image generator available. Launched in early 2024 and upgraded to Sora 2 in 2025—with viral features like personal cameos—the app topped Apple’s rankings but also drew scrutiny over misleading “AI slop,” disrespectful depictions of public figures, and copyright risks before OpenAI struck a licensing deal with Disney for branded characters. The retrenchment underscores the costs and content risks of video-generation models as AI firms triage infrastructure toward higher-priority bets.
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