Jeffrey Katzenberg, the co-founder of DreamWorks, is launching a new AI video company with former OpenAI Sora lead Bill Peebles and former Dropbox CFO Sujay Jaswa, according to The Information, which cited people familiar with the matter. The startup plans to train its own video models and target filmmakers directly rather than build for a broad consumer audience. It is also in fundraising talks with investors including Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, though neither the company name nor the size of the round has been disclosed.
Peebles was a key technical leader behind Sora and one of the authors of the Diffusion Transformer, or DiT, paper. The report said he left OpenAI soon after the company shut down Sora’s consumer app and API this year. At the time of his departure, Peebles said publicly that this kind of exploratory research needs room outside a company’s main product roadmap.
For Katzenberg, the move adds to a growing push into AI video. In May, his firm WndrCo participated in the $59 million financing of real-time AI video company Reactor. The new venture also marks his most aggressive return to video since Quibi, the short-form platform that raised $1.75 billion and collapsed shortly after launching in 2020.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks, is starting an AI video company with former OpenAI Sora lead Bill Peebles and former Dropbox CFO Sujay Jaswa, according to The Information, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The report said the new company plans to train its own video models and sell directly to filmmakers. It is also in fundraising talks with investors including Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z. The company’s name and the size of the financing have not been disclosed.
Founding team includes former Sora leadership
Peebles was a core technical leader on Sora and one of the authors of the Diffusion Transformer, or DiT, paper. After OpenAI shut down the Sora consumer app and API this year, he left the company soon afterward.
When he announced his departure, Peebles said publicly that exploratory research of this kind needs space outside a company’s main product roadmap.
Katzenberg deepens his bet on AI video
Katzenberg has already backed AI video this year. In May, his investment firm WndrCo joined the $59 million funding round for real-time AI video company Reactor.
This time, he is moving beyond the role of investor. The new venture puts him directly alongside the former Sora lead in building a company and training models in-house.
A new video startup after Quibi
The report described the venture as Katzenberg’s most aggressive video startup effort since Quibi. Quibi raised $1.75 billion and shut down soon after its 2020 launch.
Six years later, Katzenberg is back in video again, but with a different focus: AI models built for filmmakers rather than a short-form video platform.
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