Sora 2 Shutdown: What Changed for Brands Using AI Video

Yes, Sora has been shut down. According to OpenAI's help page, the Sora web and mobile app experience was discontinued on 26 April 2026, and the shutdown date for the Sora 2 models and the Videos API was announced as 24 September 2026. It is no longer possible to create new videos with Sora 2 from any country. For brands, the real question is now which tool, and which rules, to use for AI video production going forward.

When and why did Sora 2 shut down?

OpenAI announced Sora 2 in autumn 2025 as a model that generates sound and video together, and made it available through a separate Sora app. On 24 March 2026, developers were told that the Videos API and the sora-2 and sora-2-pro model names would be deprecated. The app and web version closed on 26 April, and 24 September 2026 was set as the final date for the API.

OpenAI's help page does not explain why. According to TechCrunch's analysis, based on reporting by the Wall Street Journal, the high operating cost of video generation and lower-than-expected user numbers were decisive. This is press analysis, not an official company statement, but the lesson for brands is the same: a single AI tool can disappear within a few months when the priorities of the company behind it change.

What happens to the videos you made in Sora?

OpenAI lets you export the content you created in Sora. The steps on its help page are: go to sora.chatgpt.com/sunset, click "Export", and you receive an email when the file is ready. The company says that if a final export period is offered, it will announce it by email, and that after this period it will permanently delete the data associated with your Sora usage.

If you have videos you used in campaigns, may want to republish, or must keep for legal reasons, do not put off the export. For purchased ChatGPT or Sora credits, OpenAI says these can be used in Codex if you wish, while refund requests go through the ChatGPT subscription refund process.

What should you do if a workflow depends on the API?

If you connected the Sora 2 API to your website, app or content automation, that integration no longer works. OpenAI's deprecations list includes the Videos API along with sora-2, sora-2-pro and their dated versions. The steps, in order:

1. Find every call in your code and automation tools that references a Sora model name.
2. List which screen, campaign or customer output each call is tied to.
3. Choose a replacement tool and run a quality and cost test on a small sample set.
4. Until the migration is complete, switch the feature off temporarily rather than showing users an error.

While you build this inventory, consider putting the model provider behind a single intermediate layer so you do not face the same problem again. Then, when a model changes, you update only that layer rather than the whole system.

What lessons should brands take from the shutdown?

Sora's shutdown showed that the real value of AI-generated content lies not in the tool but in the creative preparation behind it. If you hold the script, the scene flow, the brand's visual language and a prompt library, switching tools takes a few days. If all of that lives only in one app's history, you start from zero.

In practice, we recommend making these permanent:

• A short written brief and scene list for every video
• Working prompts stored in a tool-independent document
• Final videos and source images kept in your own archive
• A simple record of which content was produced with which tool

The last item is not only about being organized. Because of the advertising rules described below, you need to be able to show later which videos involved AI.

Which tools can replace Sora?

Other models generate video with sound from text or images. For example, according to Google DeepMind's product page, Google's Veo 3.1 can generate sound effects, ambient sound and dialogue together with the video. Google's announcement says it is offered through the Gemini app, Flow, YouTube Shorts, Google Vids, the Gemini API and Vertex AI, and that it can produce vertical (9:16) video for platforms such as YouTube Shorts. Independent video generation tools are also on the market.

When choosing, look less at which model is "best" and more at these questions: is the tool available in your country and on your subscription type, what are its commercial use terms, how good is dialogue and pronunciation in the languages you need, does it add a watermark or provenance data to its output, and can it connect to your workflow through an API? These conditions change often, so run a short trial with your own scenarios before deciding.

Which rules apply to AI-generated ad videos?

If you advertise to consumers in Turkey, the amendment to Turkey's Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation that took effect on 1 August 2026 introduced two clear rules. First, if an ad uses AI in a way that significantly affects consumers' economic behavior, or features AI-generated digital characters that cannot be distinguished from humans, this must be disclosed in a clear, understandable and distinguishable way. Second, ads that show an AI-generated digital copy of a real person as if they had personally experienced, used or recommended a product are prohibited.

Platform rules apply on top of this. YouTube requires creators to disclose realistic content that has been meaningfully altered or generated with AI through a setting in YouTube Studio, and disclosed content is shown to viewers with a label. If you publish the video together with a social media influencer, ad disclosure rules also apply; we cover them in our article on influencer ad disclosure.

Post-Sora checklist

• Export your campaign videos from Sora into your own archive
• Find every integration tied to the Sora API and switch it off or migrate it
• Keep briefs, scene lists and prompts independent of any tool
• Test the new tool for availability in your market, commercial terms and quality in your languages
• Disclose AI use in ads, and never stage endorsements with a digital copy of a real person

If you want to plan AI-assisted video work alongside filmed production, see our photo and video production service. For formats and planning on social media, read our guide to social media video production.