OpenAI has announced that it is ending support for its Sora AI video app. The company shared details of its discontinuation online just six months after launching it.
On X (formerly Twitter), the official Sora app announced that OpenAI is “saying goodbye to Sora.” The post continued to share, “To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing.”
OpenAI nor the official Sora account provided any details as to why the AI video app is being discontinued. However, the company is planning to share more information soon, including specifics on the timelines for the app and API solutions. Details on how users can preserve any AI videos used in Sora will also be shared.
According to The Information, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly told employees that discontinuing Sora would free up additional resources for developing the company’s next-generation AI models.
For the uninitiated, Sora can generate AI videos of real people and well-known characters. Each video is generated using AI prompts, creating short videos that have then flooded the internet, including TikTok. Users can upload videos of themselves, known as a “cameo,” to generate videos or share “cameos” of others. The app first made its way online back in September 2025.
At launch, Sora hit some virality, downloaded more than a million times in just a week and a half. It quickly became the top free app on the App Store. However, OpenAI recieved a ton of backlash over controversies regarding deepfakes of celebrities that were alive and dead. The company had to quickly pivot and stop supporting users’ ability to create videos featuring celebrities without consent.
Over time, Sora’s popularity dwindled. This may be a contributing factor in OpenAI’s decision to sunset Sora. However, there could be legal disputes in the background, also brewing that the public is not privy to.
In addition to shuttering Sora, OpenAI is also ending its multi-year collaboration with Disney. The two companies are ending the three-year partnership, in which Disney was to invest $1 billion USD (around $1.3 billion CAD) into Sora. As part of this deal, Disney provided access to use more than 200 characters for AI video generation. However, the transaction was not complete, and OpenAI did not receive funds.
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