March 26, 2026
Now showing: Budget Buster: The Movie
Why Sora Failed: $15M/day inference cost vs. $2.1M lifetime revenue
Internet split: big demand or bottomless money pit? Comments are chaos
TLDR: OpenAI pulled Sora after reports said it burned $15M a day while making just $2.1M total. Commenters are split between “that proves demand” optimists and “the math killed it” realists, with extra chaos over download drops, a PR-ish Disney tie-up, and a running gag about the page reloading forever.
OpenAI hit stop on Sora, and the comments went full soap opera. Reports said it cost $15M per day to run while bringing in just $2.1M total in sales, and that mismatch sparked a brawl: one side claims the giant bill proves huge demand (costs will drop!), while skeptics point to the math and say this was always a money bonfire. The article cites Forbes and Appfigures, and users are treating those receipts like courtroom evidence.
The plot twist people loved to hate: Sora’s flashy App Store debut in late 2025 gave way to a 66% download plunge by February 2026. Next to ChatGPT’s massive user base, Sora looked like a niche toy, not a social video empire. Cue the “cool demo, no business” memes. Meanwhile, the shiny Disney partnership? Commenters clapped back that it was validation theater, noting the piece says no money actually changed hands—oof. One user even asked why “seedance” wasn’t mentioned, fueling side-quests about who’s being left out of the narrative.
And because the internet stays unserious, half the thread devolved into slapstick: “the site keeps refreshing” became the day’s meme—“Sora loops, so does this article.” Big feelings, bigger punchlines, and a lingering fear from some that Sora’s economics aren’t a one-off, but a warning for AI’s wallet overall.
Key Points
- •OpenAI shut down Sora on March 24, 2026, per the article.
- •Forbes estimated Sora’s peak inference costs at about $15M/day (~$5.4B annualized), while Appfigures pegged total lifetime in‑app revenue at $2.1M.
- •Sora’s app launched in September 2025, topping the iOS Photo & Video category within a day; downloads peaked at ~3.33M in November 2025 across iOS and Google Play.
- •By February 2026, monthly downloads declined to just over 1.1M (about a 66% drop), and monthly active users fell after peaking in December 2025.
- •Bill Peebles said Sora’s economics were unsustainable; a KeyBanc analyst noted poor user retention, and the article contrasts this with ChatGPT’s subscription model and scale.