OpenAI Kills Sora, Burns $1M/Day, Ditches Disney Deal
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- OpenAI is shutting down Sora, its AI video generator and most-hyped product since ChatGPT, after roughly six months, and redirecting compute to other tasks including a new model code-named "Spud" (WSJ)
- Sora reportedly cost OpenAI $1 million per day while losing half its users in record time, per the WSJ reporting echoed by PCMag and The Decoder
- OpenAI walked away from a billion-dollar Disney deal ahead of its IPO, according to Silicon Canals
- Sora operated apart from OpenAI's research team, and OpenAI also shelved its near-complete "adult mode" Chat product alongside the Sora shutdown (WSJ; Andrew Curran)
- Kling, the Chinese AI video competitor, reportedly posted $300 million in revenue the same day Sora was killed, per Hello China Tech
- OpenAI is funneling the freed compute toward a new flagship model expected in roughly two weeks, which bullish observers see as a near-term capability release (Tae Kim / @firstadopter)
Why it matters: The shutdown of OpenAI's most-hyped consumer product since ChatGPT — a $1 million-per-day burn with a collapsed billion-dollar Disney deal — frees massive compute for the imminent "Spud" model and enterprise work, sharpening the public narrative around OpenAI's IPO from consumer spectacle to a direct enterprise fight with Anthropic.
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