OpenAI has officially shuttered its AI video application Sora after the platform experienced a 75 percent decline in downloads and failed to achieve financial sustainability for the company.

Key points

• OpenAI spent approximately $15 million daily to operate Sora while generating only $1.4 million in total revenue.
• Downloads for the AI video tool dropped by 75 percent since its initial launch in October.
• Google continues to develop its competing AI video generator, Veo, targeting professional video editors rather than casual social media users.
• ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 has emerged as a competitor in the AI video space, currently utilized by viral social media creators.
• OpenAI is facing additional challenges, including the loss of customers to Anthropic’s Claude Code and Walmart’s recent decision to discontinue its ChatGPT integration.

The failure of Sora highlights the significant financial risks and lack of clear commercial use cases currently facing high-cost generative AI video models. This trend raises questions about the long-term economic viability of the broader AI industry as major tech firms struggle to monetize these expensive services.