Google DeepMind Teases Veo 4 Days After OpenAI Kills Sora
OpenAI's Sora had a short and expensive life. The company officially shut down the standalone AI video product on March 24, 2026, after burning through $8–12 million a month on inference costs against revenues that never cracked $2 million. Subscriber renewal rates were below 11%. The math simply didn't work, and OpenAI quietly pulled the plug — leaving the AI video generation market wide open.
Google DeepMind wasted no time. Within days of Sora's shutdown, early signals began circulating that Veo 4 is imminent, positioning Google to absorb the market vacuum left behind. The company already has meaningful distribution advantages — Veo is embedded across YouTube, Google Photos, and Workspace — which is precisely what Sora lacked. Analysts watching the space argue that standalone AI video apps were always a flawed bet, and that embedded distribution is the only model that has actually worked at scale, as evidenced by Chinese rivals Kling and Hailuo gaining ground through platform integrations rather than direct consumer apps.
The timing is deliberate. If Veo 4 launches in the coming weeks, Google will be speaking to an audience of developers and creators who just lost their primary AI video tool and are actively looking for alternatives. That's a rare competitive opening, and Google appears to be moving fast to fill it.