IT·Science Talk

Sora lasted six months. Are we sure the AI video boom was ever real?

Reading the GONOM piece on OpenAI shutting Sora down, the number that stuck with me was December downloads falling 32% from November. Six months from app launch to closure is remarkably quick, and it also ends the Disney deal that was supposed to be worth $1 billion.

As an accountant I tend to look at it from the cost side. AFP's framing, that they're shifting to business tools before a possible listing, sounds right to me. Generating video is expensive and the novelty wears off fast. I wonder whether we'll look back on 2025 as peak "look what AI can make" and 2026 as the year companies quietly asked who is actually paying for it.