Nearly a year after OpenAI teased the first outputs from its video generation model, Sora has been released to the public.
However, the Sora website struggled to handle a rush of new users looking to try the platform out, and new signups were suspended within hours of its launch.
Initially unveiled in February, until Monday, Dec. 9, Sora was only available to a select group of early users while it underwent safety testing.
For now, access is limited to the U.S. But even this limited rollout caused a surge of traffic that overwhelmed the platform.
Anyone who attempted to create a Sora account on Tuesday morning was met with a message explaining that the service was temporarily unavailable.
The website stated:
“We’re currently experiencing heavy traffic and have temporarily disabled Sora account creation.”
It asked visitors to check back later.
After months of anticipation, Sora’s debut generated significant buzz online.
As users have started to experiment with the new tool, social media platforms have been inundated with a wave of AI-generated video content.
With ChatGPT Plus subscribers limited to 50 video clips a month, some users reported using up their credits within a few hours.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT Pro users who pay for the new $200 monthly plan can generate up to 500 videos.
While Sora has captured the public’s attention, it is by no means the only player in the AI video space.
Adobe’s Firefly recently made the leap from images to videos, gaining traction among professionals looking for video editing and generation tools.
In recent days, other Big Tech players have upped their AI video game too.
Marking its first major expansion into multimodal AI, Amazon unveiled the Nova range of models last week.
Likewise, ByteDance recently equipped its foundation model—Doubau—with new video generation capabilities.
As these companies race to innovate, the industry is quickly evolving from simple generative models to comprehensive video ecosystems. While Sora’s launch showcases OpenAI’s technical prowess, its competitors aren’t far behind.