OpenAI Aims to Integrate Video Generation into ChatGPT Amid Competition with Google Gemini

OpenAI is planning to integrate its AI video generation tool Sora into ChatGPT, marking a significant strategic shift in the company's product direction.

According to The Information, this integration plan will be implemented shortly. Behind this move lies OpenAI’s urgent need to boost ChatGPT’s user base amid growing competitive pressures.

Google’s Gemini app has already introduced video generation capabilities via its Veo AI, posing a direct competitive threat to ChatGPT.

Integrating Sora’s capabilities into ChatGPT could further drive up the app’s weekly active user count. Currently, ChatGPT has around 920 million weekly active users, falling short of the company’s 1 billion target set last year. At the same time, this integration will significantly increase OpenAI’s AI inference and server operation costs.

Sora’s Standalone App Losing Momentum—Integration with ChatGPT May Be the Breakthrough

Sora is not new. OpenAI first previewed the AI video generation tool in February 2024, officially launched it on a standalone website in December of the same year, and released a companion mobile app in September last year.

However, Sora’s standalone app failed to sustain momentum. After quickly topping Apple’s App Store free chart, its popularity rapidly declined, and it has now dropped to rank 165th.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman once mentioned internally that only a small fraction of Sora users publicly shared their generated videos.

Integrating Sora into ChatGPT aims to reignite interest in video generation by leveraging the latter’s massive user base. OpenAI stated that the standalone Sora app will continue operating, but its long-term positioning remains unclear.

Recreating Studio Ghibli Moments, But Compute Costs Loom Large

OpenAI holds high hopes for this integration, partly due to precedent. In March last year, a surge of users flooded ChatGPT to generate personal portraits in the Studio Ghibli “Ghibli” style, triggering viral spread and pushing the company’s computing resources to the brink.

（Image: Altman X Avatar, in Studio Ghibli “Ghibli” Style）

Since then, ChatGPT has become a key AI image generation tool for both individuals and enterprises—including in home and fashion design sectors.

Video generation consumes far more compute power than image generation, and if a similar viral effect reoccurs, OpenAI will face even greater computational strain.

According to The Information, the company expects that by 2030, AI inference costs alone—just to support ChatGPT and other products—will exceed $225 billion cumulatively. It has already begun securing sufficient computing capacity to withstand usage spikes triggered by explosive feature adoption.

Frequent Product Strategy Adjustments—ChatGPT Becomes Core Focus

This integration plan also reflects OpenAI’s recent repeated shifts in product strategy. Just recently, the company withdrew its plan to directly introduce shopping functionality within ChatGPT (a plan announced just six months prior).

Facing relentless competition from rivals like Google, OpenAI is increasingly concentrating resources on ChatGPT—the core product.

Integrating Sora into ChatGPT is both a practical path to reactivating existing users and hitting the 1 billion weekly active users goal, and a strategic move to directly challenge Gemini in the video generation arena.