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Manila Bulletin devider Technews devider Sora video app is no more: $1 Billion Disney deal not happening

Sora video app is no more: $1 Billion Disney deal not happening

Published Mar 25, 2026 09:01 pm
Text-to-video and social media app Sora – which was named after the Japanese word for “sky” to signify “limitless possibilities”- apparently has a limit. It announced on its X account that it will share more details and timelines for the app as it closes its doors to users.
“We’re saying goodbye to the Sora app. To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing,” the post read.
OpenAI, which developed Sora, first unveiled the text-to-video app in February 2024. It was revealed as an AI system that can turn short text prompts into video clips. Sora had a surge in popularity when Sora 2 was released in September of 2025, but it also faced significant scrutiny for enabling violent content and allowing users to create deepfakes. It also allowed the use of copyrighted characters in videos and the creation of misleading videos.
Disney signed a $1B deal with OpenAI to allow Disney characters to appear in Sora videos last December. With the plug officially pulled on Sora, Disney could be on the hunt for another AI player.
“As the nascent AI field advances rapidly, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere,” a Disney spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. “We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it, and we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators.”
Sora’s goodbye post also included a promise to update users on how to save videos that they created with the app.

Related Tags

technology AI Disney Artificial intelligence Generative AI (GenAI)
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