Kung Fu Panda Executive Producer Seeks to Revive Sora

According to Zhidongxi on October 13, citing The Information, an AI video startup focused on film and video production is in talks with OpenAI to obtain usage rights to Sora, the video generation model OpenAI previously shut down. The startup plans to deeply customize Sora and sell related software and services to filmmakers. Co-founders include Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks; Bill Peebles, former head of Sora research at OpenAI; and Sujay Jaswa, former CFO of Dropbox. The three co-founded the company in recent months; its name has not been disclosed. Sources say that if a deal is finalized, OpenAI will receive a partial equity stake in the startup, though the exact percentage is unclear. The startup wants access to the Sora model and deep modifications for film production needs. Talks are ongoing, and it is not yet decided whether the startup will receive Sora's model weights, the core parameters determining how the model produces output and a strictly protected asset for OpenAI. However, Peebles, who led the Sora project and understands its operation and training, makes sharing such sensitive information less surprising. Katzenberg and Jaswa are also co-founders of tech investment firm WndrCo, which previously invested in several enterprise AI companies. According to The Information's September 10 report, WndrCo is negotiating a large funding round with potential investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and plans to develop its own video model aimed directly at filmmakers if it raises sufficient funds. If the deal goes through, the startup would gain sufficiently deep model access to substantially customize Sora, while OpenAI would receive equity in the new company, the amount of which has not been disclosed. OpenAI's decision to shut down Sora was tied to its high development and operating costs. OpenAI invested heavily in time and money to develop Sora, but producing and running it was too expensive, so it redirected resources. In May this year, OpenAI decided to shut down Sora and its TikTok-like short video app. Shutting down does not mean giving up on returns. The potential partnership offers Sora a new commercialization path: by opening its technology in exchange for equity, OpenAI can recoup part of its prior R&D investment without operating the product directly. External teams bear operating and customization costs, while OpenAI shares potential profits as a shareholder. Meanwhile, xAI and Google continue advancing their own video models to fill the market gap Sora left. OpenAI, however, has not retreated but shifted resources elsewhere: according to Sam Altman's June 1 recruiting post on X, OpenAI formally established a robotics team; and per The Information's September report, Patreon co-founder Sam Yam joined OpenAI to lead a newly created 'creator products' division and advance a personal device plan. Whether Sora can transform from a discontinued consumer product into a professional tool for filmmaking depends on the outcome of these negotiations. If they succeed, OpenAI avoids compute cost pressures and, with outside help, returns the technology to professional production workflows. If they fail, Sora may remain shut down and OpenAI's technical asset will stay idle. For the film industry, the negotiations signal whether professional AI video tools will gain another option.