OpenAI announces plans to shut down its Sora video generator

OpenAI is preparing to shut down Sora, the video generation app that drew widespread attention when it launched in late 2024.

OpenAI announced the move in a social media post Tuesday just after a Wall Street Journal story broke the news. The company said it will have more to share soon on “timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work.”

“To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you,” OpenAI wrote. “What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing.”

The announcement comes days after leaked news of an OpenAI all-hands meeting in which company executives reportedly said they were refocusing on business and productivity applications rather than being “distracted by side quests” as OpenAI head of applications Fidji Simo reportedly put it.

The move also comes just months after Disney invested $1 billion in OpenAI as part of a deal that would “bring beloved characters from across Disney’s brands to Sora.” It’s unclear how that investment and partnership will continue with following Sora’s shutdown.