OpenAI has decided to discontinue its Sora video app in a move which will result in terminating a $1 billion licence agreement with The Walt Disney Company less than four months after being agreed.
In a post on X from the official Sora account, the company confirmed it was shuttering the service, which became publicly available in late 2024 and launched as a standalone service in September 2025.
“To everyone who created with Sora, shared it and built community around it: thank you”, the company wrote.
OpenAI added it is focusing its computing resources on other areas including robotics.
As early as the start of this week there was no indication OpenAI was planning to close Sora. It released a blog on the 23rd of March 2026 outlining how young people should use Sora safely through stricter protections.
Disney deal
Disney agreed to invest $1 billion in OpenAI as part of a three-year deal to use Sora content.
The companies said the Sora AI model would enable users to generate and share short, user prompted social videos featuring more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
ChatGPT images would also allow users to create content from Disney’s IP. However, Financial Times (FT) reported the deal never gained traction, with Disney yet to make the $1 billion investment.
On Sora’s demise, a Disney representative told FT: “As the nascent AI field advances rapidly, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere”. Disney intends to continue engaging with AI platforms and exploring partnerships, the representative added.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: OpenAI
