OpenAI's text-to-video model and standalone app. The Sora web and app were shut down on April 26, 2026 (API following on September 24). Peaked at ~1M users before collapsing to under 500K while burning ~$1M/day. OpenAI is freeing up compute for its coding and enterprise products, and the $1B Disney deal collapsed.
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Collateral damage: Users mid-project lost access to all generated videos. Creators who built audiences on the platform lost their portfolios overnight.
Sora launches to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers as a text-to-video model inside a web app.
Sora 2 ships with a standalone app; downloads spike and the service briefly passes 1 million users.
OpenAI publishes the discontinuation notice: the app will close in April, the API in September. Monthly active users are under 500,000 and compute costs are running at roughly $1 million a day.
The Sora web app and mobile app are shut down. Generated videos not exported beforehand become inaccessible.
The Sora API endpoint is switched off. Video generation at OpenAI ends entirely.
What replaced OpenAI Sora
None. OpenAI points former Sora users to image generation inside ChatGPT; it has not announced a successor video model. Compute freed by the shutdown was redirected to coding and enterprise products.
Aftermath
The shutdown followed the collapse of a reported $1 billion content deal with Disney and a user base that fell from a ~1M peak to under 500K. Sora had been the most-hyped consumer launch in OpenAI's history sixteen months earlier. Sora 2 lives on for a few more weeks in one place — Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service, where it is scheduled to retire on October 15, 2026.
Questions about OpenAI Sora
Is Sora shut down?
Yes. The Sora app and website were shut down on April 26, 2026. The Sora API keeps working until September 24, 2026, after which OpenAI has no video-generation product.
When does the Sora API shut down?
September 24, 2026, six months after the March 24 discontinuation notice.
Why did OpenAI shut down Sora?
Cost and usage. OpenAI cited compute costs of about $1 million a day against fewer than 500,000 monthly users, and chose to redirect that capacity to its coding and enterprise products. A $1 billion Disney content deal had also fallen through.
Can I still download my Sora videos?
Not from OpenAI. Videos that were not exported before April 26, 2026 are no longer accessible; creators who built audiences on the platform lost their portfolios.
What replaced Sora?
Nothing directly. OpenAI recommends image generation in ChatGPT and has not announced a replacement video model. Competing video models from Google, Runway, Kling and others remain available.