Sora’s shutdown could be a reality check moment for AI video

OpenAI announced this week that it is shutting down its Sora app and related video models just six months after the app’s launch.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane and I debated what the decision means for OpenAI and for the industry more broadly. To some extent, this move seems consistent with what we’ve heard about OpenAI, as it focuses on business and productivity tools ahead of a possible IPO.

Kirsten even suggested that OpenAI’s decision to shut down Sora was “a sign of maturity that was nice to see in an AI lab.”

But the closure of Sora – along with ByteDance’s reported delay in launching its Seedance 2.0 video model globally – could also be a reality check moment for the makers of AI video tools, and for evangelists who argue that these tools will soon replace Hollywood.

Read a preview of our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Anthony: I think it’s worth emphasizing that it’s not just the app. I mean, the app was extremely unappealing to me anyway, and I think to other people too, because it was this idea of ​​a social network without people, where it’s just sloppy.

But aside from the app, it looks like OpenAI is actually phasing out pretty much everything it does with video. The Wall Street Journal reports thiswhere some of this news came out, it’s really about the idea that Open AI – before it potentially goes public – is really trying to focus on enterprise products, enterprise products, and programming products. [So] this social consumer app, [and] more broadly, video is not a priority at the moment.

Sean: Yeah, I’ve never actually used it [the app]. The idea of ​​it put me off for several reasons. And you know, it was a good reminder that Open AI – and I don’t mean this to put them down in any way – but I think this was probably internally a reminder of the element of luck. […] in how successful ChatGPT became.

Obviously there’s something valuable there for people, I don’t want to take that away, because you don’t get to the usage numbers that we’ve heard from them without there being something that works well – and even more so that it’s been tracked over a number of years and developed into something that continues to be meaningful to people.

But when it came out, there was an element in Sora of, “We built the most successful consumer product ever, and now we’re doing it again. And we’re going to bring Disney and all that stuff into it.” I think this is just a really harsh reminder that it’s not always going to be an absolute shortcut to the top of the best consumer products ever and that there really has to be something that people feel like they’re getting some meaning out of for it to stick.

Kirsten: Yes, I actually want to give OpenAI props for this decision, because sometimes we make fun of the whole idea of ​​“move fast and break things”, but I think there is some value [to] companies that can iterate very quickly and then destroy products that don’t work without feeling like they’ve failed. I mean, real money was lost. If you were to look at the deal with Disney, that was a billion dollar dealbut if you look – and we don’t have insight into this because we don’t see their balance sheets – but what did they spend on this and what was the long-term value to the company?

And I think that while it was interesting to see what they could create, their decision to close it down for me showed a sign of maturity that was nice to see in an AI lab.

Anthony: In terms of what it means for OpenAI, it seems very consistent with everything we’ve heard about their future strategy. It doesn’t seem like a big blow or anything like that when it comes to how we think about the future of generative AI.

It is especially interesting in video because there is also reporting about Seedance, ByteDance’s generative AI model. [for video]. There are reports that [Seedance 2.0 has] has been postponed because there are technical and legal questions and actually [figuring out]“Can we build IP protection into this?” Something they apparently had not taken very seriously before.

And so it’s this reality check moment. There were some really hyperbolic statements, including from people in Hollywood [were] like, “We’re done, this is the future, it’s just typing clues and making feature films.” And it turns out that this is not so easy for all kinds of technical and legal reasons, and we are still very far from it.

Sean: And I think the last thing we need to say about this too is that this is one of many decisions that seem to happen after Fidji Simo came in. [and began] kind of carrying out the daily activities. That’s just a huge dynamic that has changed within OpenAI. And I think the further we get from the moment when she was tapped to run the show, and especially these consumer products, and decide its fate, the easier it will be to look back at this moment and think about how big a moment that was for this company.