OpenAI to Shut Down the Popular AI Video Sora App, Said to Let Go of Mega Disney Deal

OpenAI, on Tuesday, announced plans to shut down the popular Sora app. The discontinuation impacts both the mobile app and the application programming interface (API). The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) giant did not share the reason behind sunsetting the platform, or when it plans to hit the kill switch. Interestingly, the announcement comes at a time when multiple reports have claimed that the company wants to integrate Sora's capabilities within ChatGPT. Notably, the AI firm said it will share more details in the coming days.

OpenAI to Kill the Sora App Soon

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the official handle of the Sora app announced the plans to sunset the AI-powered video generation app. “To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing,” the post said, adding that more details on the timelines will be shared at a later date.

The company also added that it will share methods to let users preserve the videos they have already generated using the Sora app before the platform is shut down. An important distinction here is that what's being discontinued is the Sora app and API, and not the AI model of the same name, which is also the underlying technology behind generating videos from text prompts and images.

The announcement comes at a time when reports have claimed that OpenAI is planning to integrate Sora's video generation capabilities into ChatGPT, the company's flagship product. However, no announcement regarding the same has been made either.

While the AI giant has not shared any reasons for why the Sora app is being discontinued, it told Decrypt in a statement that OpenAI is shifting its focus to “world simulation research to advance robotics.” It added, “As we continue to focus on our roadmap to AGI and the compute needed to deliver agentic AI capabilities, we're making the tough decision to discontinue supporting Sora as a consumer app and API offerings.”

Interestingly, this also means OpenAI's deal with Disney comes to an end. The deal, which was forged in December 2025, granted the AI giant rights to more than 200 characters and a $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,300 crore) equity investment. Reports have claimed that so far, no financial exchange has taken place between the two companies.