OpenAI’s Sora Was Reportedly Losing Around $1 Million Per Day Before Being Shut Down
With fewer than 500K users and losses of around $1 million per day, it’s understandable why OpenAI shut down its AI video model, Sora. What’s less clear is why it made any sense in the first place.
OpenAI Sora
New reports about OpenAI’s decision to shut down its flagship AI video model Sora are coming out, and, man, are they painting a grim picture of just how unpopular and how unprofitable this whole social AI video platform concept really was.
It’s really not too surprising that the video model, which became synonymous with the “AI slop” term, didn’t find a larger audience among filmmakers, artists, or creatives who wanted to generate similarly sloppy content to share with family and friends in the burgeoning slop-space.
What is surprising is that OpenAI and other companies, like Disney (which was forced to back out of its $1 billion investment in Sora), saw potential and profit in this space to begin with. And now, the real questions about the future of AI video can begin.OpenAI’s Sora Loses
According to a new in-depth report from The Wall Street Journal, aptly titled “The Sudden Fall of OpenAI’s Most Hyped Product Since ChatGPT,” we get a pretty grim view into the finances behind Sora, which was reportedly losing up to one million dollars a day as it operated with fewer than 500K users.
The report also offers some funny insights into how investors like Disney were given only hours' notice of the shutdown of Sora. Still, the report notes that Disney remains undaunted by AI and is seeking new companies to implement similar generative AI models in the company’s future.
OpenAI, on the other hand, is pivoting away from AI video for the time being and is looking to shift its focus to what it would describe as longer-term, safer bets, like robotics. Which, again, is likely based on the same teams and research that told them to push so deep into AI video as well.
Is AI Video Dying or Not?
So, the big question for many of us in the film and video industry who have been following the advancements, and not sudden setback, of AI video really comes down to what we think this means for the future.
Is AI video still set to take over and change filmmaking and production as we know it, or is this the first domino to fall in a chain reaction of AI video models proving to be far too expensive and impractical for film and video?
It’s honestly hard to say at this point, as there’s still a ton of conflicting information. Despite OpenAI shutting down Sora, ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 had already surpassed it, becoming the most dominant (at least socially) AI video platform online.
Also, despite insane losses, OpenAI doesn’t appear to be any worse off than before its big bet on AI video, which could mean it could pivot back into it at any point if it so chooses. If anything, this isn’t a defeat, but it's a pause and setback that might—hopefully—help everyone in the industry ask some hard questions about what they want for the future of film, video, and AI technology.
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- Sora is Dead. So What is Disney Doing With That $1 Billion Investment? ›
- OpenAI Is Going For Indie Filmmakers, Hoping Mainstream Hollywood Follows ›
- Hollywood Fights Back Against Sora 2 ›
- OpenAI’s New Sora 2 Generative AI Model is Here to Absolutely Wreck Your Day ›
