OpenAI retires Sora 1, defaults Sora 2 in U.S.

This looks less like a product death than OpenAI cutting a legacy surface that no longer justified its own app. The company is consolidating around Sora 2 and ChatGPT, which is what you do when the novelty wears off and the economics get real.

• –OpenAI says Sora 1 exports are still available for a limited window before permanent deletion.
• –The sunset is staged, not global: Sora 1 remains available in countries where Sora 2 has not rolled out yet.
• –OpenAI is still shipping Sora 2 features, including a new editor released on March 19, 2026, so the model line is clearly alive.
• –TechCrunch reported Sora downloads and consumer spending were already falling in January, which makes product-market fit a stronger explanation than hype alone.
• –Competition from Gemini and Meta AI, plus stricter copyright controls, likely squeezed the standalone social-video app.