XAI to boost Grok video tools after OpenAI drops Sora

xAI, will upgrade its Grok Imagine video generator after OpenAI decided to discontinue its Sora video app.

Elon Musk said xAI is “doubling down” on video and shared several AI-generated clips made with Grok.

OpenAI’s exit could leave more room for rivals such as Runway and Google, but it also highlights the high computing costs of AI video, and raises doubts about the costs and rewards as Sora slipped down Apple’s App Store rankings after an early surge.

xAI’s video plans face uncertainty after co-founder Guodong Zhang left earlier this month, and employee key team members also departed.

Grok has also drawn global criticism for spreading nonconsensual explicit images.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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OpenAI stepped back for business reasons alongside technical limits

Leadership pushed teams to chase profit ahead of a planned IPO (initial public offering), and told staff to stop pursuing “side quests” 1.
Sora’s standalone app started strong, then lost momentum. Worldwide downloads slid from 3.3 million to 1.1 million in about three months 2.
OpenAI is shifting scarce, expensive computing power away from the video tool after calling its economics “completely unsustainable.” The company is putting those resources into better-margin products like ChatGPT and enterprise work such as Codex (an AI-powered coding agent) 1.
Codex has already turned into a large line of business. It has surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue 2.

Musk is pushing video while Grok faces growing safety pressure

OpenAI is lowering video priority, while xAI says it will “double down” on video. Critics tie xAI’s looser safety rules to “ungoverned” AI harms 3.
That stance has drawn legal pressure. California attorney general Rob Bonta sent xAI a cease-and-desist letter that demanded an end to creating and distributing deepfake, nonconsensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) 4.
Authorities in several places have acted over Grok safety concerns. Malaysia and Indonesia banned Grok outright 3. Britain’s Ofcom launched an investigation 3. France widened an inquiry and raided X’s offices in Paris 3. India demanded compliance reports 3. Brazil’s chief prosecutor gave X five days to stop Grok from producing sexualized content or face legal action 3.
This split may leave two camps in the market. One side centers on vetted, enterprise-focused AI such as OpenAI, while the other leans toward higher-risk consumer models such as xAI that face tougher oversight on safety and content rules 5.