A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
OpenAI不做Sora了
OpenAI Shuts Down Sora App
About this story
OpenAI decides to close its Sora video-making app after Disney pushback — what happened and what comes next. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 14 key vocabulary words such as 决定、有意思、为什么 and walks through 5 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Today let's talk about a tech news story.
OpenAI decided to shut down Sora.
Sora is a tool for making videos.
You tell it what you want.
It makes a video for you.
For example, you say, a cat is dancing.
It makes it for you.
It looks very real.
Many people really liked Sora.
But OpenAI stopped making it.
They said, we need to say goodbye to Sora.
Sora came out in 2024.
At that time everyone thought it was amazing.
Because before there was nothing this good.
Its videos had people, animals, and scenery.
They all looked very real.
Later it got even better.
It had sound.
The physics effects were also more real.
Like the way things fall looks very real.
The way water flows also looks very real.
OpenAI also made a phone app.
On the first day it was the most downloaded app.
People used it to make many interesting videos.
But some people were not happy.
Movie makers were very worried.
They were afraid AI would replace their jobs.
There was also another problem.
Some people used Sora to make videos of movie characters.
Like Mario and Pikachu.
These characters belong to other companies.
So there was a copyright problem.
Disney also had a partnership with OpenAI.
Disney invested one billion dollars.
They wanted to work together for three years.
Using Disney characters to make videos.
But now Sora is closed.
This partnership is also gone.
Disney said they respect OpenAI's decision.
Why did OpenAI shut down Sora?
Because making videos needs a lot of computer resources.
It needs many expensive computer chips.
These chips are hard to buy.
There are not enough.
OpenAI thinks these resources are better used for other things.
Like making code, reasoning, and text.
These make more money.
OpenAI is very valuable now.
About 730 billion dollars.
They recently got 110 billion in investment.
But money should be spent in the most important places.
OpenAI's competitors are also very strong.
For example Anthropic.
Anthropic made Claude.
Claude is very good at text and code.
Many companies and engineers use it.
Anthropic does not make videos.
It only makes text and code.
So OpenAI also wants to focus on these.
If you have used Sora.
Remember to save your videos.
Because later you won't be able to use it.
This story tells us.
Even if something is very popular.
A company might still stop making it.
Because making money and competition are more important.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇To make a choice. OpenAI决定关掉Sora.
HSK 1-2. interesting.
HSK 1-2. why.
HSK 1-2. company.
HSK 1-2. problem / question.
HSK 1-2. meaning / interest.
HSK 1-2. news.
Science and technology. 科技新闻 means tech news.
Something used to do work. Sora is a video-making tool.
A person in a movie or game. Like Mario or Pikachu.
Legal right to own creative work. Using others' characters has copyright problems.
Working together. Disney and OpenAI had a partnership.
To put money into a business. 迪士尼投了十亿美元.
A small electronic part inside computers. Very expensive and hard to buy.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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