Open AI has been on the rise lately: promising to double its workforce, striking a deal with Pentagonand raising another $110 billion in financing. But amid all the momentum, one product is quietly being retired: Sora.
As recently as yesterday, OpenAI was still publication guidelines for the Sora app, which is not a sign of an imminent closure. However, the company is now doubling down on its business momentum, announcing the closure of one of its most talked about (and then defunct) products, sora.
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We say goodbye to the Sora application. To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you did with Sora was important and we know this news is disappointing. We’ll share more soon, including app and API timelines and details about…March 24, 2026
Bing is another point of contact. Although Microsoft recently announced its plans to create its own models and LLMBing’s current generation tools are based solely on the use of OpenAI’s Sora models.
Having been powered by Sora 2 in June 2025, it became one of the first free access points to the model outside of a payment. ChatGPT subscription. Even after upgrading to sora 2Users can create free videos of approximately 5 seconds with daily limits or upgrades using Microsoft Rewards.
in a statement aboutthe Sora team shared: “We say goodbye to the Sora app. To everyone who built with Sora, shared it, and built a community around it: thank you. What you did with Sora was important and we know this news is disappointing. We’ll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on how to preserve your work.”
Sora’s boss, William Peebles, said a month ago that Sora was “unsustainable” when they announced they were reducing the number of free gems users could get:
“Today we are launching the ability to purchase additional generations in Sora. We have been quite surprised at how much our power users want to use Sora, and the economics are currently completely unsustainable. We thought that 30 free generations a day would be more than enough, but clearly we were wrong! This will allow our professional creators to get as much usage as they want to pay for.”
So what’s next for the research team behind Sora? Whether you agreed with the use or creation of the product, one thing was certain: Sora was a incredible piece of technology. Sloppy or not, the research and development behind the product took genius to create, and now, that team still has a home.
In a statement to CBS NewsOpenAI said: “We have decided to discontinue Sora in consumer application and API. As we focus and computing 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.”
Real-world scenarios where robotics work with real-time video references are surely something the Sora team can get behind. We may be just a few years away from a true Bicentennial Man.
Does Sora’s closure affect you? Are you happy or sad about the news? Viva AI dirty water? Let us know in the comments below!
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