Sora, the AI video platform created and released by OpenAI, is being shuttered by its creators. It’s a decision that has caught many in the industry by surprise, especially since it is barely a year old, having officially launched just six months ago.
The decision was made in line with OpenAI’s plan to create a new “superapp”, designed to bring all of its apps together. That includes ChatGPT, Codex, and Atlas, although Sora wasn’t initially in the list. With the axing of the app, we now know why. As per an official statement by an OpenAI representative:
“We’ve decided to discontinue Sora in the consumer app and API. As we focus and compute demand grows, the Sora research team continues to focus on world simulation research to advance robotics that will help people solve real-world, physical tasks.”
History of Sora
Despite having existed since 2024, Sora officially became an app back in September 2025. Since its release, the app has been widely used on social media platforms like TikTok, where users created random AI generated videos. Unsurprisingly, AI generated videos of Elon Musk desecrating Sora’s “grave” already exist, as does a video of a Grok robot chasing down OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, and crushing his head.
At the time of writing, OpenAI hasn’t provided a definitive shutdown timeline for Sora, giving us no indication how long the app will continue working, nor how much longer users have to extract all their content before one of their sources for doomscrolling on TikTok and X disappears forever.
One more thing to note is that with Sora shutting down, its US$1 billion (~RM3.95 billion) deal with Disney has been effectively cancelled. That said, the House of Mouse says that it is still interested in working with the AI tech company, although it is clear the shutdown had also caught it by surprise.
