We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Greetings!Disney's highly touted partnership with OpenAI is dead. Shortly after word leaked that OpenAI was shuttering its Sora video app, Disney confirmed that the two sides were parting ways. The media giant would no longer be investing $1 billion into the AI startup, which had been a core aspect of their deal. The news marks a stunning end to what was seen as a potential model for how media and AI companies could co-exist, a way for the two sides to get over the long-simmering tensions between entertainment companies who create the content and AI companies who use that content to make their large language models smarter and more effective. On paper, it seemed like a way to deal with the copyright nightmare that was Sora, which initially let users go wild with AI-generated videos featuring characters, settings and vehicles that looked eerily like established IP. For example, check me out in this X-Wing-like craft. Disney would give permission to use its characters with some strong guardrails, and Sora would give users the ability to incorporate Iron Man or Elsa into AI videos. Some of those videos would eventually be seen on Disney+. But it was always a bit of an odd fit. Creatives were uneasy with people utilizing their creations in unusual and unpredictable ways. Critics accused Disney of embracing AI slop. Sora itself lost a lot of the early buzz that drove it to the top of the Apple Store App Store. It was enough that even with this potential deal, OpenAI decided to pivot away from video. The company, after all, is prepping for a big initial public offering in the fourth quarter, and likely needs to invest more time in areas that actually generate revenue. For Disney, it represents an easy way out. Be sure to check out TheWrap tomorrow morning for my analysis on the whole situation. Roger Cheng Before we move on, be sure to follow me on my socials linked below for the latest updates. DMs are open for tips.    
Sora is dead, but I'm willing to bet you won't find a lot of people at Disney mourning its passing... 
| ||||||||||||
