OpenAI Launches Sora 2 Video Generation Model

OpenAI announced today the release of Sora 2, its latest video generation model that can create realistic-looking videos with dialogue and sound effects. The company is also launching today a Sora iOS app that will allow users to create, view, and share videos created with Sora 2.

OpenAI unveiled its original Sora model back in February 2024 and took it out of preview in December of that year. That model can generate Full HD (1080p) resolution videos up to 20 seconds in length, but it has since been outclassed by Google’s Veo 3 model, which can create 4K videos with real-world physics with audio.

Sora 2 seems to match what Google’s Veo 3 can do, but video creators can also insert themselves or other people into Sora-generated environments. “The ability to put yourself and your friends into a video—the team worked very hard on character consistency—with the cameo feature is something we have really enjoyed during testing, and is to many of us a surprisingly compelling new way to connect,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman explained today.

This is the Sora app, powered by Sora 2.

Inside the app, you can create, remix, and bring yourself or your friends into the scene through cameos—all within a customizable feed designed just for Sora videos.

See inside the Sora app? pic.twitter.com/GxzxdNZMYG

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 30, 2025

In the announcement, OpenAI described Sora as “the GPT-3.5 moment for video.” As you may remember, GPT 3.5 is the model used by the first version of ChatGPT released back in November 2022. ChatGPT was a true leap forward for AI technology and quickly became one of the fastest-growing apps of all time, crossing over 100 million users two months after its launch.

“Sora 2 can do things that are exceptionally difficult—and in some instances outright impossible—for prior video generation models: Olympic gymnastics routines, backflips on a paddleboard that accurately model the dynamics of buoyancy and rigidity, and triple axels while a cat holds on for dear life,” OpenAI said today. While the team admitted that Sora 2 can still “makes plenty of mistakes,” there are various safegaurds in place to prevent users from creating deepfakes or creating disturbing or illegal content.

Sora 2 is available on the web via sora.com and the new Sora iOS app, which is currently only available to US and Canadian users with a waitlist system. The mobile app lets users create videos, discover new videos in a customizable feed, and remix them. Sora 2 is available for free with usage limits, and ChatGPT Pro users can also get access to a more powerful Sora 2 Pro model on the web.