September 21, 2026
Video in the OpenAI API is switched off on September 24: sora-2 is removed with no replacement
Money in AI video went to those selling to businesses: Sora is fading, Kling pulls in $3 billion.
On September 24, OpenAI removes sora-2 from the API. In the table of deprecated models, the “recommended replacement” column remains blank.
Sora and Kling ended up on opposite sides of a dividing line. Videos for memes do not cover the compute bill; video for a training department does.
A year ago, it looked like the reverse. Sora launched in September 2025, took first place in the free App Store chart in October, and had fallen to 126th by March 2026. The app shut down on April 26; now the API is going dark too.
Along with the app, OpenAI’s deal with Disney fell apart: $1 billion invested in the company plus a three-year right to show a library of more than 200 characters in Sora. It was signed around three months before the shutdown announcement.
Money moved to business. Kling AI is closing a $3 billion round at an $18 billion valuation, with Tencent among the investors. In Q1 2026, the service generated more than 650 million yuan in revenue and grew by more than 300% year over year. 75% of the money comes from overseas markets, while 60% of revenue comes from the enterprise API rather than video subscriptions.
The same pattern is nearby: HeyGen passed $200 million in annual revenue and doubled in eight months, while Synthesia raised $200 million in January at a $4 billion valuation.
What to replace it with. Google offers a direct API replacement for video. Veo 3.1 in the Gemini API starts at $0,05 per second of finished 720p video with sound; the top tier costs $0,60 per second in 4K. Files from the Sora library remain available until the deadline; after that, OpenAI deletes them irreversibly.
Kling is targeting an IPO in Q1 2027.
