Slate Daily Feed What Next - Hollywood vs. A.I. Slop
Mar 30, 2026
Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and tech reporter who covers AI and internet culture, walks through OpenAI’s short-lived video tool Sora. He recounts surreal viral clips, how the app created videos from prompts, and why a Disney tie-up and business pressures may have unraveled. They debate a future of cheap AI churn versus premium human-made entertainment.
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Sora's Early Wild Remix Feed
- Jason Koebler first saw Sora on launch day and remembers surreal clips like SpongeBob in Hitler cosplay and Pikachu DJing.
- He describes swiping through remixed AI videos where none were real but prompts produced vivid, viral-seeming results within seconds.
Hype Versus Retention On AI Apps
- OpenAI shut down Sora months after hype despite viral downloads and a Disney deal, showing hype didn't equal sustainable retention.
- Koebler noticed feeds felt like ghost towns with low likes/comments even while Sora topped app charts.
The Surprising Disney Billion Dollar Deal
- OpenAI announced a billion-dollar Disney deal to let users generate Disney characters on Sora and even show outputs on Disney Plus.
- The deal suggested mainstream industry acceptance of AI for content, a move Koebler found surprising given past litigious behavior.