TLDR
- OpenAI preparing to integrate Sora AI video generator within ChatGPT platform, according to The Information
- Standalone mobile application launched September 2025 with TikTok-inspired interface
- January 2026 saw 45% monthly decline in app installations, based on Appfigures analytics
- Apple’s U.S. App Store top 100 ranking lost in early 2026
- Disney collaboration produced minimal impact on user adoption
OpenAI has begun planning the integration of its Sora AI video generation technology into the ChatGPT platform, The Information reported on March 11, 2026. Sources familiar with internal discussions provided this information.
OpenAI has remained silent on these integration plans. The company provided no response to comment requests made after standard business hours.
The Sora platform debuted as an independent mobile application in September 2025. Users received tools to create and distribute AI-generated video content through an interface resembling TikTok’s design.
Text prompt inputs enabled users to produce videos through the application. The platform also featured capabilities for generating content related to copyrighted properties, which users could post to integrated social media-style feeds.
Initial launch momentum faded as 2026 began. Both download figures and revenue from users experienced significant drops.
TechCrunch published analysis in January 2026 using Appfigures data, revealing that Sora experienced a 45% month-over-month installation decrease during January. Revenue from users contracted during the same period.
Apple’s top 100 applications list on the U.S. App Store no longer included Sora. Google’s Play Store showed comparable performance deterioration.
OpenAI established an agreement with Walt Disney enabling video creation featuring Disney intellectual property within Sora. This partnership failed to generate sustained growth in user engagement.
Moving Sora Into ChatGPT
Integrating Sora within ChatGPT would provide the video generation technology access to ChatGPT’s massive user community. ChatGPT serves hundreds of millions of users globally, dwarfing the audience reached by the standalone Sora application.
The Information indicated OpenAI intends to maintain the independent Sora application alongside the ChatGPT integration. Official timing for this rollout remains unannounced.
Video generation capabilities added to ChatGPT would likely increase OpenAI’s infrastructure expenses. Video AI models demand substantially greater computational resources than text-focused systems.
Competition in AI Video
Sora faces competition from video generation platforms developed by Meta and Alphabet’s Google. Both technology giants continue expanding their text-to-video AI capabilities.
This ChatGPT integration strategy aligns with OpenAI’s broader expansion beyond text-only applications. Industry observers view multimodal systems handling video, images, and audio as the evolutionary direction for AI products.
Microsoft holds an investment position in OpenAI and has deployed OpenAI technologies across its product portfolio, including Bing and Microsoft 365.
OpenAI’s current approach centers on consolidating various offerings under the ChatGPT brand, which continues as the company’s primary user-facing platform.
