OpenAI Plans to Shut Down Sora Video Platform, Non-Profit Division Hopes to Spend $1 Billion by 2026

OpenAI Plans to Shut Down Its Video Platform Sora. This product, launched last year, drew widespread attention but has gradually faded from public view. This move is part of OpenAI’s series of adjustments to refocus on business and programming functionalities, potentially ahead of an IPO as early as this fourth quarter.

CEO Sam Altman announced internally on Tuesday that the company will gradually shut down products based on its video model. In addition to consumer-facing applications, OpenAI will also discontinue the developer version of Sora and will no longer support video features in ChatGPT.

Currently, OpenAI is undergoing a strategic shift, reallocating computing resources and core talent toward so-called “productivity tools,” which target both enterprise clients and individual users. Last week, the company announced that it would combine the ChatGPT desktop app, coding tool Codex, and browser into a “super app,” aiming to enable employees to collaborate around a unified vision.

Sora was launched in September last year, aiming to expand OpenAI’s influence on the consumer side by creating a social content stream similar to short video platforms, allowing users to share AI-generated videos. Shortly after its launch, Altman encouraged users to try editing him into various classic movies or pop culture scenes.

However, some employees were surprised by the company’s heavy investment in computing resources for the product, as market demand was unclear. Altman hopes the company will maintain ambition in its product roadmap and also announced plans to release AI hardware devices in the coming years.

The shutdown of Sora is seen as a correction to OpenAI’s previous product strategy, which involved launching multiple products, leading to a complex organizational structure and scattered priorities.

Additionally, Sora faced a brief copyright controversy at launch due to insufficient copyright protections. The company later added control mechanisms allowing content owners to prevent their images or intellectual property from being used.

In December last year, Disney announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI. Under the agreement, OpenAI was to obtain licenses for over 200 Disney characters, allowing users to generate and share videos featuring these classic characters. However, this investment will not proceed further. Disney stated, “As the AI industry remains in its early stages and develops rapidly, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and focus on other areas.”

Altman said the Sora team will shift to longer-term projects, such as robotics.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is also working to catch up with its startup competitor Anthropic in the race for programmers and enterprise clients. At a company-wide meeting earlier this month, Head of Applications Fidji Simo told employees they should no longer be distracted by “side tasks,” and emphasized strengthening the so-called “agentic” capabilities in their products.

“Agentic systems” refer to AI software capable of autonomously running on users’ computers and performing multiple tasks, such as coding or data analysis.

On the same day, The Information reported that OpenAI has completed preliminary development of a new AI model. Additionally, Altman is no longer directly overseeing the company’s safety team, instead focusing on fundraising, supply chain, and building data centers.

Nonprofit Department Aims to Spend $1 Billion by 2026

OpenAI plans to invest $1 billion through its nonprofit arm this year in various AI-related projects. Just months after transitioning to a more traditional for-profit corporate structure, this move significantly boosts its charitable investments.

The OpenAI Foundation stated that its 2026 spending will focus on helping society mitigate potential AI risks (such as biological threats) and funding projects that leverage AI to advance life sciences. The organization said these funds will be distributed through grants and projects.

The company has also made several key personnel appointments to lead the nonprofit. Wojciech Zaremba will oversee AI resilience projects, focusing on the impact of this technology on biosecurity and overall safety; Jacob Trefethen, formerly at Coefficient Giving, will lead life sciences initiatives. Early efforts include using AI to accelerate research on diseases like Alzheimer’s.

As part of last year’s corporate restructuring, OpenAI’s nonprofit received a 26% stake in the company. Based on the valuation at that time, this stake was worth approximately $130 billion, making the foundation one of the world’s most valuable charitable organizations on paper. The nonprofit also received a warrant: if the profit entity’s stock price increases more than tenfold over the next 15 years, it will be entitled to additional shares, though the exact amount has not been disclosed.

Given that OpenAI was originally founded over a decade ago as a nonprofit research lab, the future positioning of this nonprofit has become a key consideration for regulators reviewing its restructuring plan. Attorneys general in Delaware and California have expressed interest in ensuring OpenAI’s vast resources are used for public benefit.

OpenAI previously announced that in the coming years, the foundation would invest $25 billion to drive breakthroughs in healthcare and address AI’s potential impacts. However, despite this restructuring, whether the nonprofit can rapidly scale its spending remains to be seen.

In comparison, according to the latest tax filings, OpenAI’s donations through its nonprofit in 2024 totaled only $7.5 million. The largest single donation was $1 million to the AI Safety Fund under Meridian Institute, which has since disbanded and laid off staff. In December last year, the OpenAI Foundation reported distributing $40.5 million in grants to 208 nonprofits across the U.S.

On the personnel front, OpenAI has also brought in several executives to assist with managing the foundation. Former Twitter executive Robert Kaiden will serve as CFO; OpenAI executive Anna Makanju will oversee a newly created department managing external charitable donations. The foundation is also actively seeking an executive director.

The foundation also stated it is working with civic society experts, businesses, and economists to study AI’s impact on employment and will allocate “significant resources” to the most promising solutions. More details are expected in the coming weeks.

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