AI critics declare 'win' for humanity as OpenAI pulls the plug on project costing $15 million per day
OpenAI has suffered its first major setback following a decision to pull support for one of its biggest projects, leaving AI critics overjoyed and declaring a 'win' for humanity.
It's hard to deny OpenAI's dominance within the AI industry, as while some of its competitors have caught up in the past year, ChatGPT is synonymous with artificial intelligence for the vast majority of people.
The company's flagship release has broken sign-up records during its most popular periods, and continues to evolve alongside the rapidly changing technology, yet cracks are seemingly starting to appear following the cancellation of one major project from the industry leader.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI has revealed its intention to pull the plug on Sora — the company's generative video platform aimed at competing with rivals like Google's Veo, Luma, and even Elon Musk's Vine-esque Grok Imagine.
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Sora was only released last year yet hasn't achieved the success that OpenAI leadership might have hoped, and previous reports from Forbes indicated that it was burning a $15 million-sized hole in the company's pockets every single day.
It appears to be part of an effort to refocus and streamline the business prior to expectations of a public offering later this year, and the resulting change sees all forms of video support effectively elimintated from ChatGPT for both consumers and developers alike.
Sam Altman's company is already struggling to justify its incredibly high spending to revenue ratio despite its dominance in the field, especially relative to some competitors, so this doesn't necessarily come as a surprise to those wondering how the company would cut costs.
While the removal of Sora is likely bad news for anyone who relied heavily on the service, it's information that has been very well received by the anti-AI camp who have declared a major victory in response.
"Sora is dead. We're going to win," reads the title of one post sharing the news on the r/antiai subreddit, with countless comments underneath celebrating the news with glee.
"They're killing off the unprofitable things," one user declared, with another noting that "nothing of value is lost."
Many comments also remember the threats that were made from AI enthusiasts towards artists in the wake of image and video generation tools, and while competitors still exist offering similar services, it's perhaps an indication that they aren't as popular or viable as they were perhaps made out to be.