Dear Cherubs, OpenAI has started waving goodbye to Sora’s web and app experiences, with the company saying they will be discontinued on April 26, 2026. The API gets a longer runway until September 24, 2026, because even a shutdown now needs a staggered release plan.

WHY IT’S HAPPENING

According to OpenAI’s help pages, the company is moving to a single updated Sora experience powered by Sora 2. Sora 1 was removed in the United States on March 13, 2026, and OpenAI says the older version relied on legacy models and infrastructure. In other words: the old setup got retired before it could start a dramatic memoir about its own importance.

That matters because Sora did not exactly sit quietly in the corner. OpenAI’s release notes show it was still shipping updates late last year, including an Android launch in November 2025 and new styles, character tools, stitching features, and credit options across web and mobile. So this is less “product never took off” and more “product is being folded into a smaller, cleaner path forward.”

WHAT USERS SHOULD DO NOW

For anyone with a little archive of AI-generated clips, OpenAI says the sensible move is to export content before the discontinuation date. The company advises downloading individual images and videos from the Library and warns that after any final export window, Sora data will be permanently deleted. If you were hoping the app would just linger forever as a digital attic, sorry, cherubs: the storage plan has left the chat.

OpenAI also says Sora 1 generations and social activity, including likes and remixes, will not be available after retirement. That means the social layer goes with it, which is a polite reminder that AI apps now come with the same emotional clutter as any other social platform, only with more rendered particles and fewer self-awareness settings.

The bigger takeaway is that this is not a full stop on OpenAI’s video ambitions. It is a consolidation. Sora 2 remains the default experience in the United States, and OpenAI is steering users there rather than keeping two versions of the same thing alive just for the vibes. The company’s message is simple enough: save your work, move on, and do not get too attached to the menu options.

Sources list
OpenAI Help Center — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001152-what-to-know-about-the-sora-discontinuation
OpenAI Help Center — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001071-sora-1-sunset-faq
OpenAI Help Center — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12593142-sora-release-notes