Microsoft has officially rolled out a new AI-powered video generation tool called Bing Video Creator, making it the first platform to publicly deploy OpenAI’s Sora model for free.

The launch, announced Monday, marks a significant milestone in the race to democratize generative video technology and underscores Microsoft’s deepening partnership with OpenAI.

Sora — unveiled in February 2024 — is OpenAI’s most advanced text-to-video model to date. It stunned the tech world with its ability to produce highly coherent, realistic videos from short-written prompts. In internal demos, it generated scenes like a bustling Tokyo street, a coral reef, and a woman walking through the snow — all from plain text inputs. Until now, however, public access to the tool was limited to a small group of vetted researchers and commercial partners under strict usage guidelines.

Free, but Limited Access Through Bing App

Through Bing Video Creator, Microsoft is offering ordinary users their first chance to experiment with Sora — albeit in a heavily restricted format. The tool is currently exclusive to the Bing mobile app, with no desktop access at launch.

Users logged into a Microsoft account can generate up to 10 videos for free. After that, each video generation costs 100 Microsoft Rewards points, a loyalty currency that can be earned by using Bing Search or shopping in the Microsoft Store. For instance, users receive 5 points per desktop Bing search, up to 150 points per day.

Each video is capped at five seconds, and users can only queue up three generations at a time. Output is limited to a vertical 9:16 aspect ratio, designed for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Microsoft said it will soon support horizontal aspect ratios, likely in response to growing interest in AI-generated video for broader creative and cinematic uses.

Despite a “fast mode” setting promising shorter wait times, some users report waiting hours for video generation to complete, indicating either a capacity bottleneck or deliberate throttling by Microsoft to manage demand.

Microsoft Bets on Sora to Compete in the AI Ecosystem

Microsoft is both expanding access to cutting-edge AI and pushing aggressively into markets dominated by Google and YouTube by integrating Sora into its search app. While Microsoft’s Bing still holds under 5% of the global search engine market, its integration of generative AI tools — including GPT-4.5, DALL·E image generation, and now Sora — positions Bing as a feature-rich alternative to Google Search.

This strategic deployment also strengthens Microsoft’s commercial relationship with OpenAI. Microsoft has invested over $13 billion into OpenAI since 2019 and currently holds an exclusive license to commercialize its models via Azure. Sora’s deployment on Bing represents the first time the public has been able to use it without direct payment or institutional access.

Ethical Concerns and Impact on Creative Industry

Sora’s capabilities have sparked debate within the creative industry and among policymakers. While praised for its potential to revolutionize filmmaking, education, advertising, and gaming, Sora has also raised alarm over deepfake risks, misinformation, and potential job displacement for editors, animators, and video producers.

OpenAI has acknowledged these risks, saying it will implement “guardrails” and develop tools for provenance and watermarking. Microsoft appears to be following suit by limiting video length, scope, and access — at least in this early phase.

Microsoft’s move comes amid rising competition. Google’s own AI video model, Lumiere, which was unveiled in January 2024, remains in research preview. Meta is reportedly working on an AI video model internally but has not made it public. Unlike Microsoft, both tech giants have so far chosen to keep such tools behind closed doors, citing ethical concerns and platform safety.

By contrast, Microsoft is betting that controlled public rollout — paired with reward-based engagement — could help it leapfrog rivals and generate buzz ahead of broader monetization.

While Bing Video Creator is still in its infancy, Microsoft’s decision to launch Sora in this format signals a long-term vision for making high-quality AI video creation accessible to everyday users. If generation speeds improve and output options expand, the tool could evolve from a novelty into a widely used feature across social platforms and personal projects.

Klarna, the Swedish fintech giant once seen as the face of the booming “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) trend, has taken a major step to rebrand itself as a more robust financial services company.

The firm is now piloting its own Visa debit card in the United States, dubbed the Klarna Card, as it moves to expand its offerings beyond short-term credit. Klarna says the card will be rolled out across Europe later this year.

The timing of the product launch is significant. Klarna’s foray into the payment card market comes amid growing pressure on its core BNPL business, which has faced mounting losses and tighter regulation. Once celebrated for disrupting traditional credit models, BNPL products — which allow consumers to split purchases into multiple interest-free payments — are now struggling under the weight of rising defaults, changing consumer behavior, and increasing scrutiny from regulators across the globe.

Klarna’s revenues from BNPL have suffered notably in the past two years. As economic conditions tightened and inflation eroded consumers’ ability to repay on time, the company saw a spike in delinquencies. While Klarna has since slashed costs and cut its workforce, it continues to operate at a loss, a stark contrast to its 2021 heyday when it was Europe’s most valuable private tech firm with a $45.6 billion valuation. That valuation was cut by 85% in 2022, reflecting growing doubts over the sustainability of its original business model.

The new debit card is Klarna’s boldest attempt yet to diversify revenue streams and position itself as more than a one-trick pony. According to the company, the Klarna Card functions primarily as a debit card, but users can switch to its BNPL options — including “Pay in 4” or “Pay in 30 Days” — at checkout. The card is powered by Visa’s Flexible Credential technology, which allows consumers to access multiple funding sources from a single payment method.

“We want Americans to start to associate us with not only buy now, pay later, but [with] the PayPal wallet type of experience that we have, and also the neobank offering that we offer,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told CNBC’s “The Exchange” last month. “We are basically a neobank to a large degree, but people associate us still strongly with buy now, pay later.”

Unlike traditional debit cards tied to checking accounts at banks, the Klarna Card is linked to accounts that hold FDIC-insured deposits through WebBank, a Utah-based partner bank. This structure enables Klarna to sidestep the need for its own U.S. banking license while still offering consumers many of the benefits of a full-service bank. Users can make payments, withdraw funds, and switch between payment modes with the same card, which comes in three color options: aubergine, black, and bright green. Klarna also offers tiered perks including discounts and cashback.

The U.S. market — dominated by giants like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America — is already competitive, and Klarna will be going head-to-head with neobanks such as Chime and fintech players like PayPal, which also pivoted into banking-like services. Klarna claims that over 5 million people have already joined the waitlist for the new card, signaling strong consumer interest despite the cooling of the BNPL hype.

The company’s pivot toward embedded finance and payment infrastructure mirrors broader trends in the fintech sector, where firms that once grew by offering niche products are now racing to become full-stack digital banks. But Klarna’s strategic push comes with added urgency: it is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), which was recently postponed due to financial market uncertainty following new U.S. tariffs.

Analysts see the Klarna Card as a critical test of whether the firm can successfully transform into a sustainable fintech platform. Regulators in the U.K., U.S., and Australia have all increased oversight of BNPL firms, requiring them to meet more rigorous lending and consumer protection standards. This adds further pressure on companies like Klarna to reduce reliance on deferred-payment models.

While Klarna still holds a full banking license in the European Union, its ambitions in the U.S. — the world’s largest consumer market — depend heavily on its ability to adapt. The new debit card, supported by Visa’s infrastructure and regulatory partnerships, may offer Klarna a second wind, but it also signals a fundamental change: a shift away from the aggressive lending that made it famous, toward a more measured, bank-like approach that could finally lead the company to sustainable profitability.

Fintech firms want some swiping action. On Tuesday, Buy Now, Pay Later pioneer Klarna announced the debut of a Visa-powered debit card that, per CNBC, signals the Swedish startup’s ambitions of becoming an “all-encompassing banking player” as it plans for a public offering later this year. Also on Tuesday, PayPal launched a physical credit card in partnership with MasterCard. CEO Alex Chriss noted in a LinkedIn post that a PayPal product for in-store use has long been among the “most requested” from customers.

The U.S. dollar is expected to tumble to levels last seen during the pandemic, as Morgan Stanley forecasts a continued decline driven by deepening interest rate cuts and rising strength among competing currencies.

Strategists at the investment bank say the greenback will likely fall another 9% over the next 12 months, pushing the U.S. Dollar Index down to 91, a level it hasn’t touched since early 2021.

The dollar index — a measure of the greenback’s value against a basket of six major currencies including the euro, yen, pound, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, and Swedish krona — stood at 98.9 on Tuesday, having already breached Morgan Stanley’s earlier year-end target of 101 in April.

“We think rates and currency markets have embarked on sizeable trends that will be sustained — taking the U.S. dollar much lower and yield curves much steeper — after two years of swing trading within wide ranges,” the strategists wrote in a note published over the weekend.

Sharpest Drop Expected Against Safe Havens

Morgan Stanley believes the dollar’s losses will be most pronounced against traditional safe-haven currencies such as the euro, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc. By mid-2026, they expect the euro to reach $1.25 and the British pound to climb to $1.45, marking sharp increases from current levels.

The dollar index has already fallen more than 10% since its January peak of nearly 110, which followed speculation around the new Trump administration’s economic stance and the Federal Reserve’s projected rate trajectory. While the index briefly rebounded in February, the upward momentum stalled after the White House implemented new tariffs on select imports — reviving fears of another trade war.

Trump’s Policies Seen Dragging Growth

Beyond the Fed’s interest rate policies, Morgan Stanley sees broader policy developments under President Donald Trump as a drag on economic growth. The bank’s economists cited tariffs and immigration restrictions as twin forces weighing on U.S. output while expressing skepticism about any significant boost from fiscal spending or deregulation.

According to their outlook, U.S. GDP growth is expected to slow to 1% in 2025 and remain at that level in 2026. Those projections are even more cautious than the OECD’s latest forecast, which sees the U.S. economy expanding by 1.6% in 2025, a downgrade from its earlier estimate of 2.8%.

Rate Cuts and Yield Curves

Morgan Stanley also forecasts a yield of 4% on the 10-year Treasury by the end of 2025 but expects a steeper decline in bond yields by 2026. The bank anticipates that the Federal Reserve will slash rates by a cumulative 175 basis points starting in 2026, as growth weakens and inflation finally returns to the central bank’s 2% target.

The call for a weaker dollar coincides with a broader shift in global market sentiment, as investors begin to bet more heavily on an end to the Fed’s rate-hiking cycle and the beginning of a prolonged easing phase. In contrast, some rival central banks — particularly in Europe — are either expected to hold steady or pursue tighter policy for longer.

Implications for Global Markets

The dollar’s retreat could reshape global capital flows and ease pressure on emerging markets, which often struggle with dollar-denominated debt. A weaker dollar tends to lower the cost of borrowing abroad and boost commodity prices, particularly for oil and metals priced in the U.S. currency.

However, the long-term impact is expected to hinge on whether the Trump administration moderates its current economic course or doubles down on protectionist measures that continue to isolate the U.S. from global supply chains and labor migration.

With political uncertainty rising and global markets recalibrating to the reality of slower American growth, the dollar’s slide may prove to be more than a short-term correction — it may mark the beginning of a structural retreat in U.S. economic dominance.

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