OpenAI’s $15 Million‑ADay Sora Flop Sparks $134 Billion Musk Probe Over AI Rivalry

OpenAI’s decision to pull Sora came after a six‑month run that cost the company roughly $15 million a day in inference expenses, according to Forbes. Each 10‑second clip required about $1.30 of compute, driving an annual bill that would have topped $5.4 billion if the service had continued. Revenue never caught up – total earnings from Sora amounted to just $2.1 million, Forbes notes, meaning OpenAI spent about $2,600 for every dollar it earned.

The user base collapsed as quickly as it grew. Sora peaked at 3.3 million downloads in November 2025, but by February 2026 downloads were down 66 percent, and active users fell below 500,000, the Pudgy Cat report says. The rapid churn left the platform a “ghost town” despite early hype that Disney had signed a billion‑dollar deal and filmmakers feared it would upend Hollywood production.

Musk’s response has turned the failure into a broader showdown. The Los Angeles Times reports that Elon Musk announced a $134 billion “probe” into OpenAI’s practices, framing Sora’s collapse as evidence of reckless AI competition. Musk’s investigation aims to scrutinize OpenAI’s cost structures and market dominance, signaling an escalation in the rivalry that began with Musk’s earlier criticisms of OpenAI’s safety claims.

OpenAI confirmed the shutdown of the Sora app on April 26 2026 and said the API will be retired in September, the Pudgy Cat article notes. No replacement product has been announced, and the company has not disclosed how it will offset the sunk costs. The abrupt termination underscores the gap between a flashy demo and a sustainable business model in generative AI.

Analysts watching the dispute say the episode could reshape investment flows into AI video tools. With Musk’s $134 billion probe now public, venture capital may become more cautious about funding high‑cost inference services that lack clear revenue paths. The outcome of the investigation could set new industry standards for cost transparency and competitive practices.