OpenAI has pulled its AI video making app Sora less than two years after its launch in 2024, to focus more on developing robotics and agentic technology.
In an X post, OpenAI announced on Tuesday it would be shutting down both its downloadable platform and its consumer app for Sora, and will no longer focus on AI video generation.
Instead, it will use the same powerful technology to develop training robots and agentic technology, the company told the BBC.
The company will also end its content licensing partnership with Disney. The landmark Disney-OpenAI partnership let the AI company have rights to over 200 characters from the media franchise, including from Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
The deal, which was announced in December 2025, was intended to be three years and mark a shift in the responsible use of copyrighted works and characters to power AI models.
Disney has said that it respects OpenAI’s decision and will continue to work with other AI companies.
Two Years of Sora
The text-to-video tool was released in early 2024 and later gave way to consumer app Sora 2 in September 2025 – which made the video generation tool mainstream, taking the number one place on Apple’s app store days following its release.
However, the app was criticised for enabling the creation of violent and misleading content online once widely used and in the hands of many consumers.
Positioned as a community where people could share short-form AI videos, Sora quickly raised major questions around copyright infringement, the non-consensual use of celebrity likeness, and realistic deepfakes – hyperrealistic AI-generated video content.
On the official Sora X page, the company outlined that users would be able to save any videos they had created to “preserve” their work.
We’re saying goodbye to the Sora app. To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing.
We’ll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on…
— Sora (@soraofficialapp) March 24, 2026
