VCs are betting billions on AI's next wave, so why is OpenAI killing Sora?

When an 82-year-old Kentucky woman was offered $26 million (techcrunch.com/2026/03/24/kentucky-woman-rejec…) from an AI company that wanted to build a data center on her land, she said no. Sure, that same company can try to rezone 2,000 acres nearby anyway, but as AI infrastructure stretches further into the real world, the real world is starting to push back.

That tension is everywhere this week, from OpenAI shutting down its Sora app (techcrunch.com/2026/03/24/openais-sora-was-the…) to courts finally starting to hold social platforms accountable. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity (techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity) podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what it looks like when the AI hype cycle meets reality.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

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Why rival prediction market CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket are co-investing (techcrunch.com/2026/03/23/despite-bitter-rival…) in a $35M VC fund

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How drone startups like Zipline (techcrunch.com/2026/03/23/zipline-snaps-up-ano…), Lucid Bots (techcrunch.com/2026/03/25/lucid-bots-raises-20…), and Brinc (techcrunch.com/2026/03/24/a-former-thiel-fello…) are finding real traction where other robotics plays have stalled

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What Kleiner Perkins' $3.5B raise (techcrunch.com/2026/03/24/with-3-5b-in-fresh-c…) says about where the biggest VC firms think the next AI wave is going

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Why two separate court verdicts against Meta (techcrunch.com/2026/03/25/jury-finds-meta-and-…)in the same week could be the “tobacco moment” for social media

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube (youtube.com/@TechCrunch),Apple Podcasts (itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1215439780),Overcast (overcast.fm/itunes1215439780/equity),Spotify (open.spotify.com/show/5IEYLip3eDppcOmy5DmphC?s…) and all the casts. You also can follow Equity onX (twitter.com/EquityPod) andThreads (threads.net/@equitypod), at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:30 Would you turn down $26M for your farm?

03:56 Rivals Kalshi & Polymarket CEOs are investing together

10:28 Deals for drones: Zipline, Brinc & Lucid Bots

18:17 Kleiner Perkins goes all-in on AI with $3.5B raise

22:52 OpenAI shuts down Sora

28:04 Meta gets hit with dual verdicts

34:56 Outro

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