It is widely believed that the honeymoon period between Microsoft and OpenAI is over. During this time, Sora’s release strategy has been changed again and again. It can be said that in 2024, Microsoft and OpenAI staged a complex game around Sora and even the overall partnership. In addition, Sora’s own security problems have not been effectively resolved. YouTube has publicly accused Sora of infringing its data copyright. Although there is a suspicion of being the first to shoot, since the Sora codename was announced, troubles have indeed continued. Summed up in one sentence: Microsoft wants to use Sora as an ace to save the product line, while OpenAI has been delayed due to a series of considerations. This time, Microsoft launched a series of marketing activities around the free version of “Sora”, but the popularity of users has plummeted. For example, Microsoft chose to launch Sora on the Bing platform instead of its flagship AI platform Copilot. Is this the best proof of Microsoft’s uncertainty? In addition, the use of Sora video generation on Bing still needs to earn points for operation, and the blunt promotion also makes everyone “stunned for a second”. At the same time, a large number of excellent AI video generation tools such as Kling, Vidu AI, Immortal, PixVerse, WanX, Google Veo, Luma, and Runway have emerged on the market. As early as version 2.0, Kling claimed to have surpassed Sora in terms of physical engine and narrative coherence; Google’s Veo series even supports high-quality AI soundtracks and sound effects. In contrast, Sora’s promised single 60-second video generation has not been fully realized, and users can only experience the output effect for a maximum of 20 seconds. It can be said that although Sora is free today, it is difficult to remain competitive with competitors in terms of technical performance and user experience. What’s more, in this year, Chinese manufacturers have pressed the cost to what level, and all users can see it. It can be said that Microsoft’s free version of Sora this time is really a bit late. How long can Chinese manufacturers maintain the advantage? When Sora first came out, it brought huge pressure to the domestic AI video industry. Today, although Microsoft will make Sora free, in the field of text-generated video, the golden window seems to have been missed. However, Microsoft is Microsoft after all. The huge Windows and Office user ecosystem, coupled with the powerful entrance channel of Bing, can quickly amplify the influence of Sora and reach a huge number of ordinary consumers. In the past period of time, China’s Kling, Vidu AI, iDream, PixVerse, WanX and many other products have gone through countless iterations, among which products such as Kling have been successfully commercialized. Sora is like the sword of Damocles, hanging over the heads of many manufacturers at home and abroad. No one knows whether the arrival of Sora will change everything in an instant. Sora’s own performance can be said to be still in the first echelon, and its fluency has always been talked about. This time with Microsoft, a “super giant factory that spans the PC era, the mobile Internet era, and the cloud computing era, and has led the trend in every era.” In the end of the product, Sora will get far more help than ever. ” Industrialization + productization “is considered to be one of the answers in the second half of the AI video generation track. If Sora can obtain a valuable scene entrance, it may be able to withdraw from the current dilemma and move into a new track. The importance of a scene entrance, we have actually seen in Anthropic. In the current era of AI big marketing, the most feared thing about the basic model is not” a little behind the technology “but obscurity.” It’s too late “does not mean there is no chance. It can be expected that Microsoft’s opening of Sora will force competitors to accelerate innovation and launch better services. Domestic AI video manufacturers must have felt some impact. Previously, the advantages they have accumulated in various fields of AI video effects through rapid iteration seem to be unable to let everyone continue to move forward with peace of mind. The field of AI video generation can be said to be a track of “strong technology and high change”. How difficult this road is, the domestic big manufacturers have something to say. For example, Baidu CEO Robin Li made it clear at an internal meeting in the third quarter of 2024: “Baidu does not touch Sora-type video generation.” He believes that To B business should try to avoid that kind of “thankless” customized projects, and should launch standardized products. The open-source strategy of Alibaba’s Tongyi team’s AI video generative model WanX2.1 has also found a unique path to cannibalize attention in the field of open source. How fast will Sora run? We can’t predict, but Chinese manufacturers still need to speed up. In the past year, Google’s Veo2 and Veo3 have led by a large margin in performance, but the high cost has made the market response lackluster; on the contrary, the popularity of products such as Kling with moderate price and more balanced performance has quickly accumulated 22 million users. The psychological impact of the “free” strategy on users is huge. Although Microsoft’s free action is more like passive catch-up than active innovation, with the support of giant resources, Sora may still trigger a new round of industry competition. Can Sora return to the peak with free? How long can domestic manufacturers maintain the lead? Perhaps the answer is not far away. After all, in the age of AI, “who runs faster” is more crucial than “who starts first”. The first mover needs to keep accelerating, and the chaser wants to overtake the car in a corner.
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