Sora (Video)
OpenAI's video model, discontinued in April 2026. Formerly turned text/images/video into short clips.
At a Glance
Pros
- + Historical milestone in physics coherence for video models
- + Helped pave the way for current models like Google Veo 3.1
Cons
- − Discontinued by OpenAI on April 26, 2026
- − No longer accessible or usable
Best for: Historical reference only — the service was permanently shut down in April 2026
Fabian's Take
CPO & Chief AI Officer
"The early Sora demos genuinely impressed me on physics and motion, but OpenAI pulled the service offline in April 2026. I'm keeping this entry as a marker of how fast this space moves — for real work in 2026, reach for an active model like Google's Veo 3.1."
[!WARNING] OpenAI officially discontinued the Sora web and API experiences on April 26, 2026. The model is offline and no longer usable. This review remains online for historical reference.
Full review
Sora was OpenAI’s flagship video generation model, designed to turn text, images, or existing video into high-fidelity clips.
Creative milestone
When it first launched, Sora was a major milestone for physical coherence and detail. It demonstrated that diffusion transformers could model complex world physics and generate motion that felt natural.
The shutdown
As the AI video space shifted rapidly in late 2025 and early 2026, competition from tools like Google Veo 3.1 and Runway Gen-4.5 intensified. OpenAI ultimately chose to decommission the Sora service on April 26, 2026, redirecting its resources toward core reasoning and agentic models.
Who should use it
No one can use it anymore. For high-fidelity video generation in 2026, look to active platforms like Google Veo 3.1 or Runway Gen-4.5.
Added: 2026-02-22 · Last updated: 2026-07-01