OpenAI announces the shutdown of the Sora video app and the termination of its $1 billion partnership with Disney

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(Source: The Paper)

OpenAI officially announced on March 24th that it will shut down its once-popular Sora video generation app, and also terminate its milestone partnership with Disney valued at $1 billion.

According to reports, the Sora iOS app, API services, and Sora.com website will cease operations, with specific timelines to be announced soon. Media outlets say that the Sora research team will continue focusing on the development of world models to advance robotics technology and help solve physical tasks in the real world.

The Sora team posted on social media.

Industry experts analyze that the closure of Sora reflects a strategic shift at OpenAI. As competition in the AI industry intensifies, with increasing pressure from rivals like Anthropic and Google, OpenAI is reallocating resources toward more profitable areas such as capital, chips, and enterprise products.

Running video generation services requires enormous computing power and electricity, which is a huge expense for any company. Media reports indicate that Sora’s operation has significantly impacted resource allocation for other teams.

Looking back at Sora’s development history, its rise and fall are quite poignant. In early 2024, OpenAI’s launch of Sora shocked the tech industry. This software, capable of generating high-quality, movie-length videos from text prompts, caused a major stir. The release of Sora prompted many AI companies to accelerate their own AI video generation models.

In September 2025, OpenAI created a standalone Sora app that allowed users to incorporate themselves into short videos. OpenAI envisioned using AI video technology to build a social network centered around content sharing in the AI era. However, the good times didn’t last. According to TechCrunch, by January of this year, Sora’s downloads had plummeted by 45%. Even some team members were surprised when they learned of these changes on Tuesday morning. Just a day earlier, OpenAI had published an article about Sora’s safety standards.

The closure of Sora also marks the end of a major collaboration between OpenAI and Disney. Earlier, the two companies announced a three-year licensing agreement allowing Sora users to generate AI short videos featuring over 200 iconic characters, including Mickey Mouse. This deal was seen as a milestone for tech-Hollywood collaboration and raised concerns among content creators about AI replacing actors and creators.

The Sora team wrote on social media: “We say goodbye to Sora… We know this news is disappointing.” This once-shocking AI video product has now come to a bittersweet end.

Source: The Paper Tech