Sora may get a second life — in filmmaking tools

According to The Information (October 12, 2026), OpenAI is discussing with a startup founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Sora research lead Bill Peebles, and former Dropbox CFO Sudha Jaiswal the transfer of access to the Sora video model to adapt it and sell professional tools to filmmakers.

Compiled by Sergey KostenchukPublished 2026-10-17Updated 2026-10-17

2026-10-17 Multimodal OpenAI

🎨 Sora may get a second life — in filmmaking tools

OpenAI is discussing with a startup the transfer of access to the Sora video model — the startup will build filmmaking tools on it. The co-founders are Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks, Quibi), former Sora research lead Bill Peebles, and former Dropbox CFO Sudha Jaiswal. No transfer of weights has been announced, but reports mention “sufficiently deep access.”

🌍 A shift in course at OpenAI: instead of “build and close” — partnership. Usually, weights for such models are not given out, but the presence of the former Sora lead among the founders increases the chances of a transfer.

👤 The consumer Sora app will likely not return. Watch for the announcement (name, a16z round, timelines): whether a public Sora product will appear.

Source 1: https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/openais-video-model-sora-could-get-a-second-act/

Source 2: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/994242/jeffrey-katzenberg-bill-peebles-ai-video-startup

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