OpenAI could hand Sora over to a startup specializing in audiovisual production

OpenAI is reportedly discussing a return of Sora through a startup co-founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bill Peebles, and Sujay Jaswa, aimed at film professionals.

Sora could experience a second life, far from the consumer app that had marked its launch. According to an investigation by The Information, OpenAI is reportedly in talks with a startup co-founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Disney executive and co-founder of DreamWorks, and Bill Peebles, former Sora research lead. The goal would be to reuse the video generation model to develop tools for filmmakers and audio-visual production professionals. A New Venture Between Hollywood and OpenAI

Still stealthy, the startup has not revealed its name. It brings together three profiles: Jeffrey Katzenberg, a historic figure in American animation and cinema; Bill Peebles, who led the research around Sora at OpenAI; and Sujay Jaswa, former Dropbox chief financial officer and Katzenberg's partner at the investment firm WndrCo.

The project had already been revealed in September by The Information. Its founders were then considering developing their own video models and were discussing significant funding with several potential investors, including Andreessen Horowitz.

The new information now suggests another possibility: directly leveraging technology already developed by OpenAI, rather than starting solely from new models. Deep Access to Sora in Exchange for an Equity Stake

According to a person with knowledge of the discussions, the startup could gain access to Sora advanced enough to customize it and market specialized software or services.

In return, OpenAI would receive an equity stake in the new company. Its amount is not known, and no information confirms that the complete internal parameters of the model would be transferred.

The presence of Bill Peebles, who knows how Sora works and its training methods, could facilitate this technical collaboration. But the negotiations have not resulted in a publicly announced agreement. Neither OpenAI nor the startup's founders have confirmed the terms discussed. Following the Sunsetting of Sora and the Abandonment of the Disney Partnership

OpenAI had announced the sunsetting of Sora in March 2026, a few months after the launch of its second generation and its video app. The high cost of developing and running the model weighed on this decision, amidst a refocusing on ChatGPT, language models, and enterprise products.

This abandonment had also put an end to a partnership with Disney, announced at the end of 2025. The deal notably provided for a potential one-billion-dollar investment and the use of over 200 Disney characters in videos generated with Sora.

The transaction had not been finalized, however, and no funding had been disbursed.

Katzenberg's involvement in this new project therefore does not mean Disney is returning to the equation. It is a separate initiative, led by an entrepreneur who left the group long ago. A Second Career in Production Studios?

The shift in target audience would be significant. Where Sora notably sought to appeal to the general public with video generation and sharing, the new company reportedly intends to offer solutions tailored to filmmakers' workflows.

The precise applications remain unknown. However, customizable access to Sora could interest studios for pre-visualization, visual research, or sequence preparation, though these features have not been officially announced.

For OpenAI, such a partnership would offer an opportunity to monetize the investments already devoted to Sora, without necessarily relaunching a particularly costly consumer platform.

It remains to be seen whether the discussions will lead to an actual collaboration. Sora is not officially back, but this avenue reflects a persistent interest in video generation within professional production pipelines, even after the failure of a first consumer-facing business model.