--- title: "OpenAI Is Reportedly Killing Its Disastrous Video AI Slop App" description: "As the Wall Street Journal reports, OpenAI is looking to discontinue its disastrous text-to-video app, Sora, entirely." date: "2026-03-24" modified: "2026-03-24" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-killing-sora-video-ai-slop" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" --- # OpenAI Is Reportedly Killing Its Disastrous Video AI Slop App ![As the Wall Street Journal reports, OpenAI is looking to discontinue its disastrous text-to-video app, Sora, entirely.]() *Futurism* It didn't take long for OpenAI's text-to-video AI app, Sora, to [melt down into outrageous drama](). Almost immediately after the company [rolled out the flashy smartphone]() app in early October, it became ground zero for [photorealistic videos of people shoplifting](), flagrantly copyright-infringing footage of [SpongeBob SquarePants cooking up meth](), and [mocking clips of deceased celebrities](). Less than five months on, OpenAI is looking to rid itself of the "[unholy abomination]()" of Sora, a mind-numbing TikTok-like experience that few users stuck around to actually use regularly. (After initially topping App Store charts, [downloads plummeted]().) As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), OpenAI is now looking to discontinue the app entirely, once again highlighting how its jittery executives are [looking to refocus the company's efforts on potential money makers](), including enterprise and coding, ahead of its rumored IPO. CEO Sam Altman told staff in an announcement today that the company is winding down any products related to its video AI models. Even a developer-facing version of Sora will be nixed, per the *WSJ*. Perhaps most strikingly, a previously [rumored integration inside the company's ChatGPT chatbot]() is also on the chopping block, indicating OpenAI has given up on the idea in its entirety. The dramatic U-turn leaves plenty of glaring questions unanswered. For one, we don't know what will come from a [multi-billion-dollar deal OpenAI struck with Disney in December](), a mere three months ago. The three-year deal was meant to include more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters, allowing users to generate videos of them inside Sora and ChatGPT. We also don't know OpenAI's exact reasoning behind the move. Could it be related to the [widespread copyright infringement allegations]() its Sora app sparked last year? Or [other abhorrent content]()? A more likely explanation, perhaps: the app is incredibly expensive for OpenAI to run, and it's not generating any revenue. "We cannot miss this moment because we are distracted by side quests," OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told employees in a memo, as [quoted by the *WSJ*]() last week. "We really have to nail productivity in general and particularly productivity on the business front." Considering Sora has absolutely nothing to do with productivity in any meaningful way — it's arguably the very antithesis — it's no wonder OpenAI is looking to call it. **More on Sora:** [*People Are Already Creating Ghoulishly Horrifying Sora Disney Videos*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()