OpenAI’s Sora gets the axe

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Good morning, {{ first_name | AI enthusiasts }}. Weeks ago, OpenAI’s Applications CEO Fidji Simo told staff to stop chasing “side quests.” Today, one of the AI leader’s most high-profile ones got the axe.

Sora, the video generator that previously hit No. 1 on the App Store and landed a major Disney deal, is officially winding down — with focus turning to a new incoming ‘Spud’ model and the enterprise fight with Anthropic.

In today’s AI rundown:

  • OpenAI winds down Sora to prioritize ‘Spud’

  • Brett Adcock’s $100M stealth AI device startup

  • Let Claude use your computer with Dispatch

  • Apple’s standalone Siri app, chatbot for iOS 27

  • 4 new AI tools, community workflows, and more

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

❌ OpenAI winds down Sora to prioritize ‘Spud’

Image source: Ideogram / The Rundown

The Rundown: OpenAI just axed its Sora AI video generator to free up compute for Spud, the company’s next major model that Sam Altman says will be ready in weeks, with the company continuing to shift priorities and roles in the race against Anthropic.

The details:

  • Altman reportedly told staff OAI would wind down all video products, including its mobile app and API, with employees calling Sora a “drag” on resources.

  • The freed-up compute will go toward ‘Spud’, OAI’s next major model expected in the coming weeks, which Altman says “can really accelerate the economy”.

  • Sora head Bill Peebles said the team will now pursue “world simulation” for robotics, calling the prize “automating the physical economy”.

  • The move also puts OAI’s December partnership and $1B investment by Disney on ice after the media giant initially agreed for its IP to be used in Sora.

  • Altman is also reportedly moving safety responsibilities under Mark Chen, with Fidji Simo’s division also being renamed to “AGI Deployment”.

Why it matters: There had been rumors of Sora being woven into a ‘super app’, but the video appears to be deemed one of the company’s “side quests,” distracting from its main core focus. Big changes are clearly underway, and OAI’s next release will reveal a lot more about where the organizational winds are blowing.

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HARK

🤖 Brett Adcock’s $100M stealth AI device startup

Image source: Hark

The Rundown: Figure AI founder Brett Adcock just launched Hark, a new AI startup that aims to create a “new interface to AGI” via personalized AI paired with dedicated hardware.

The details:

  • Hark spent 8 months in stealth, with Adcock putting $100M of his own money in the startup, targeting what he calls the most advanced personal AI ever built.

  • The company is working on a “family of devices both for yourself and the home”, with systems that “begin to think like you, and sometimes ahead of you.”

  • The 45-person team pulls from Apple, Google, Meta, and Tesla, with hardware design led by Abidur Chowdhury, who previously designed the iPhone Air.

  • Hark signed a deal for thousands of NVIDIA B200 GPUs arriving in April, with the first AI models and software planned for this summer.

Why it matters: The AI device space has been tough sledding, but Adcock’s experience with Figure gives him a stronger pedigree than most. Paired with an ex-Apple design lead and strong team, Hark is one of the more interesting moves into the space yet — and joins OAI’s device on the list of hotly anticipated AI hardware releases.

AI TRAINING

📲 Let Claude use your computer with Dispatch

The Rundown: In this guide, you will learn how to use Dispatch to hand Claude a task from your phone and have it finish the work on your PC — a simple way to keep work organized when you step away and want Claude to keep moving in the background.

Step-by-step:

  1. Update the Claude Desktop app on your computer by clicking Claude > Check for updates in the toolbar. Update the Claude mobile app, too

  2. Open the Desktop app, click Dispatch > Get started, and turn on file access and keep-awake to ensure Claude works with files while keeping the PC active

  3. When prompted, pair Dispatch with your phone app. Now, send Claude a simple task from your phone, like cleaning up emails or organizing files

  4. Check the result on your desktop or mobile when Claude finishes. The same conversation stays synced, so you can keep going without restarting the thread

Pro tip: Set up a local project folder before you start. Use one clean folder for the files Claude should edit, save, or organize so the output is easy to find later.

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APPLE

📱 Apple’s standalone Siri app, chatbot for iOS 27

Image source: Apple

The Rundown: Apple is reportedly testing a standalone Siri app alongside a new “Ask Siri” chatbot experience, according to Bloomberg insider Mark Gurman — with both slated to debut with its iOS 27 system at WWDC in June.

The details:

  • Gurman said Siri will get its own dedicated app for the first time, along with a redesigned interface that lets users type or speak requests.

  • The assistant will reportedly read across iMessages, emails, and notes to build context, also capable of executing actions inside third-party apps directly.

  • Apple is branding the experience “Ask Siri,” positioning it as a chatbot-style interaction rather than the rigid voice commands of the previous iterations.

  • The full rollout is expected at WWDC on June 8 as part of iOS 27 and macOS 27, following a lackluster reception to Apple Intelligence last year.

Why it matters: After Apple Intelligence failed, this Gemini-powered revamp is probably Apple’s last chance to define Siri before users default to ChatGPT or Claude for everything. June 8 just became the most important keynote in years, though after the initial 2024 launch, we’ll have to see an actual rollout before believing the demos.

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📰 Everything else in AI today

Microsoft AI poached three top researchers from the Allen Institute for AI, including former CEO Ali Farhadi, with the trio joining Mustafa Suleyman’s Superintelligence team.

Figma opened its design canvas to coding agents, letting tools like Claude Code create/ edit designs directly using a team’s existing components and brand standards.

Pharma giant Roche launched a new “AI factory” to speed up drug discovery and manufacturing, with the company now amassing over 3,500 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.

Cloudflare launched Dynamic Workers, a new tool that lets AI agents quickly and safely run code they write on the fly at 100x the speed of other options.

The OAI Foundation committed $1B this year across disease, job displacement, and AI safety research, with co-founder Wojciech Zaremba joining as Head of AI Resilience.

COMMUNITY

🤝 Community AI workflows

Every newsletter, we showcase how a reader is using AI to work smarter, save time, or make life easier.

Today’s workflow comes from reader Leslie in Delray Beach, FL:

“I give ChatGPT my product sales report and return reports and ask it to analyze my best-selling products and recommendations for improvement, and recommendations on what to discontinue. I sell 600 products, so doing this manually is impossible.

It also identified my very top opportunities, and several products were a shock to me as I had no idea they were doing that well. It also made me aware of products that are dragging my business down.”

How do you use AI? Tell us here.

🎓 Highlights: News, Guides & Events

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — the humans behind The Rundown

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