OpenAI offered Sora, an AI video generation tool that produced short video clips from text prompts or uploaded images, to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers starting December 2024; the product was discontinued in a phased shutdown, with the app and web closing on April 26, 2026 and the API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026, with reporting pointing to high compute costs and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. A three-year licensing deal signed in December 2025 with The Walt Disney Company, under which Disney had committed a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, lapsed when the product shut down before the partnership terms were executed.

Sora launched in December 2024 as a text-to-video tool available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers in the US and Canada, offering video generation at resolutions up to 1080p and up to 20 seconds in length. Sora 2 was released to select users in the US and Canada in late September 2025, adding synchronized audio and social sharing features in a standalone iOS and Android app. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026; the app and web experience at sora.com closed on April 26, 2026, with the Sora API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026, per OpenAI's Help Center. OpenAI did not give an official public reason in its announcement; reporting from multiple outlets linked the decision to high compute costs, declining user numbers, and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. In December 2025, Disney and OpenAI announced a three-year licensing agreement under which Disney would make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and allow Sora users to generate videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters; reporting indicated the investment had not been finalized before the shutdown, causing the agreement to lapse.