In summary:
- PCWorld reports that OpenAI is discontinuing its Sora AI video generation app, confirmed via an X post, as the company refocuses on core business priorities.
- The decision comes after Sora’s slow rollout and limited user access, while competitors like Google’s Veo, Runway, and Pika have gained prominence in AI video generation.
- The Sora team will transition to world simulation research for robotics advancement, leaving the consumer AI video market more open to existing competitors.
Remember Sora? Developed by the powerhouse behind ChatGPT, Sora’s AI-generated videos became instant social media sensations and spawned nightmares in Hollywood.
But while the Sora demo reel blew away viewers back in February 2024 (a lifetime ago in the world of AI), OpenAI’s gen-AI video platform failed to take off after a sluggish start. Now OpenAI says it will wind down its consumer Sora app.
Sora confirmed the news in a post on X. “We’re saying goodbye to Sora,” says the post. “We’ll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work.”
In a statement to CBS News, OpenAI said the Sora team would continue its work on “world simulation research to advance robotics.” The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the Sora app’s demise.
The impending demise of OpenAI’s Sora app leaves Google’s Veo platform as the biggest player in the mainstream market for AI-generated videos. There’s also Runway for professional AI video workflows, as well as Pika, Luma AI, and Kling.
While Sora got an early and splashy start in the gen-AI video game, it took many months for Sora to actually roll out to everyday users. By the time it finally got a wide release in December 2024, Google had unveiled Veo, its competing AI video generation engine.
Even upon its eventual late 2024 release, access to Sora was limited for paid users and even tighter for free ones, and during Sora’s earliest days, users were frequently locked out due to high demand.
Sora’s arrival also caused a major ruckus in Hollywood, leading to a $1-billion deal between OpenAI and Disney that would allow the latter’s Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters to appear in Sora AI videos.
Veo got a couple of big updates last year, with Veo 3 arriving in May 2025 with enhanced video quality while Veo 3.1 introduced longer videos a few months later. Meanwhile, Sora seemed to stagnate, although it did get a standalone social media-focused app in September 2025.
Amid chatter of a reported “superapp” that would combine ChatGPT, Codex, and its Atlas broswer, OpenAI execs announced plans to scale back the company’s “side projects” to focus more on “core” strengths like coding. It’s quickly becoming clear that Sora was one of those expendable side quests.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, PCWorld
Ben has been writing about consumer technology for more than 20 years, and now focuses his reporting on AI as it relates to the basic human experience. His coverage of artificial intelligence interrogates the latest LLMs, and how they can be used at work and at home to be best prepared for the AI revolution. “AI is going to change our lives sooner than we think,” Ben writes. “Our best way to adapt is by using it every day.” Ben has been a PCWorld author since 2014, and has covered everything from laptops to security cameras before launching PCWorld’s AI beat. Ben's articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men's Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master's degree in English literature.