OpenAI pulls plug on Sora app as Disney deal collapses

OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it is shutting down its Sora social app, ending a six-month experiment with an AI-first social feed. The Sora app launched six months ago, but failed to sustain long-term interest. The decision to close the app follows a significant decline in downloads after its initial peak. The shutdown of the application has also resulted in the collapse of a partnership with Disney, which had provided a $1 billion investment and licensing deal to OpenAI. While the agreement was intended to establish a licensing partnership, it appears no money actually changed hands between the two companies before the deal collapsed. Following the announcement of the shutdown, Disney stated that it would continue to engage with AI platforms.

The Sora app struggled to maintain user interest and faced content moderation challenges throughout its six months on the market. Users and critics characterized the platform as an under-moderated minefield of creepy Sam Altman videos and noted that the glorified deepfake app was weird as hell. This reputation was highlighted by content such as a video depicting a realistic clone of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asking, “Are my piggies enjoying their slop?”

Beyond these moderation issues, the platform’s guardrails were easily evaded, leading to the creation of deepfakes of real people like civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and actor Robin Williams. Users also generated content featuring copyrighted characters, resulting in videos of Mario smoking weed, Naruto ordering Krabby Patties, and Pikachu doing ASMR.

According to data from the mobile intelligence firm Appfigures, the initial hype around the app did not translate into long-term user retention. The app’s performance is detailed by the following metrics:

• Peak Downloads: The app reached about 3,332,200 downloads in November.
• Download Decline: By February, downloads declined to 1,128,700 downloads.
• Lifetime Revenue: The app generated about $2.1 million from in-app purchases.

While the consumer-facing social app is being discontinued, OpenAI is keeping the underlying technology active. The Sora 2 model remains available behind the ChatGPT paywall. This integration allows OpenAI to offer the video- and audio-generation model within its primary platform, which currently serves 900 million weekly active users.

Why it matters

The shutdown of the Sora app marks the end of OpenAI’s attempt at an AI-first social feed, which also resulted in the collapse of a $1 billion investment and licensing deal with Disney.