OpenAI will shut down its Sora video generation platform in two phases, with the web and app versions closing on April 26, 2026, followed by the Sora API on September 24, 2026, according to an announcement posted on the company’s help page. The shutdown affects the sora.chatgpt.com platform that handled image and video generation.
The company is urging users to download their content before the cutoff dates, with videos and images available for export directly from the Sora library. OpenAI has not yet decided whether to provide a final export window after those dates, but users would receive email notification if one becomes available. Once all deadlines pass, user data will be permanently deleted.
According to OpenAI’s announcement, the shutdown is part of a broader strategic pivot to redirect compute resources toward coding tools and enterprise customers, mirroring rival Anthropic’s approach. The company plans to consolidate ChatGPT and other tools into a single “super app” package.
Despite the consumer platform shutdown, Sora will continue as a research project focused on world models. OpenAI stated the long-term goal is “automating the physical economy,” though no timeline was provided for this research direction.
Full details about the discontinuation process are available on OpenAI’s help page under “What to know about the Sora discontinuation.” Users have approximately one month to export their content before the first shutdown phase begins.
