As OpenAI winds down its video effort, xAI wants to fill the void.
Following OpenAI’s Tuesday announcement that it would scrap Sora, its generative video app, to focus on its enterprise AI work, Elon Musk-owned xAI announced plans to step up Grok Imagine, the lab’s video generation tool.
In a post on X, Musk said that the company is “doubling down” on AI video, claiming that “the next Grok Imagine release will be epic.”
Though OpenAI’s decision to wind down Sora and end its $1 billion, three-year partnership with Disney for licensing was a surprise development, it’s indicative of OpenAI’s efforts to cut down on side projects and refocus on core enterprise products that drive revenue, especially as it eyes an IPO and likely feels pressure from the success of rival Anthropic.
And while xAI may aim to fill the gap left by OpenAI's withdrawal of the Sora app, xAI's image generation tool remains shrouded in controversy.
- The company has faced a litany of lawsuits for its image generator creating photos portraying people in sexualized scenarios without their consent, including from a group of teenagers in Tennessee who proposed a class-action lawsuit claiming that Grok generated images of them in debasing scenarios.
- Additionally, the company has faced EU regulatory probes regarding its image generator, and is facing a lawsuit from the city of Baltimore for the image generator’s safety protocols.
- A recent study from advocacy group Common Sense Media deems Grok to be a risk for users under 18, citing “frequent generation of sexual, violent, and inappropriate material.”
Our Deeper View
Though Sora was still in its early days, its loss leaves a gap in the AI video market. And while Musk may see this as an opportunity, xAI’s tech may not be up to the task of taking Sora’s place. For one, there are plenty of other competitors, ranging from startups like Runway or Synthesia to tech giants like Google's Veo and ByteDance’s Seedance. With a wealth of options, entertainment companies like Disney may be more inclined to work with companies that have cleaner reputations than xAI.