The week erupted on social media where OpenAI decided to drastically limit free access to Sora, its artificial intelligence video generator, and the move hit the global community like a bucket of cold water. This measure was implemented immediately and without prior notice, a gesture that many users describe as not very transparent and that has caused a wave of criticism on X, Reddit, TikTok and specialized forums.
Pressure on OpenAI’s infrastructure has been building for months. Currently, Sora has reached its highest level of usage, especially in the United States and Japan, the two markets where most intensive creators are concentrated. And while the service isn’t available in all countries, thousands of users in regions where it isn’t supported are turning to VPNs for access, pushing actual demand far higher than initial projections.
This explosive growth has forced OpenAI to make progressive adjustments: first it went from unlimited usage to a limit of 45 videos per day, then to 30. But the biggest hit is now: only five videos per day for 10-second clips. Nothing more. The model changed to a credit system where each clip takes one to two credits depending on the length. With only five credits per day, two 15-second videos leave any user practically out of the game.
For the community that turned Sora into one of the most viral creative mechs of the year, the general feeling is that the lab closed its doors just when the imagination was at its best.
Crashes that “charge” as if they were working
The outrage doesn’t just come from the cut: what’s really fueled the conversation are glitches that consume credits even though the video is never created. Over the past few weeks, Sora has seen a significant increase in technical errors, cancellations, and bans due to alleged security breaches.
The problem becomes more serious when the AI rejects the video not because of a prompt, but because of something it itself generated. If you create a scene that you deem inappropriate—even if the user didn’t request it—the clip is blocked, credit is deducted, and the user is left without a video. An equation that annoys anyone.
With so few attempts available, fine-tuning the prompt became a surgical task: hyper-detailed descriptions, tons of filters, and a constant effort to guess what might cause another crash. In communities like Discord or Reddit, users share lists of “safe” words, recommended patterns, and guides to prevent Sora from creating overly revealing clothing, ambiguous scenes, or characters in situations her system deems sensitive.
Signs of declining quality
Added to this scenario is an argument that has gained strength, the alleged drop in video quality. Users are reporting more issues in scenes with multiple characters, such as mixed voices, out-of-sync dialogue, or erratic facial expressions, as well as increased visual artifacts during fast movements or complex interactions.
This technical degradation, combined with new barriers, makes the creative process impractical: many videos become unusable, forcing retries… and consuming already scarce credits.
Without detailed public explanations, the community is left to speculate. For some, the cuts are simply a response to a collapsing infrastructure: Sora is one of the most expensive video models to operate, and the current volume is unsustainable with widespread free access. Others believe that OpenAI is gradually pushing users towards paid plans or subscription models, especially given that the generative video market will be one of the drivers of artificial intelligence monetization in 2025 and 2026.
According to data from The Information and Bloomberg, video models are the most demanding in the ecosystem: the cost per generated minute can be up to 20 times higher than text models, and their training requires very high-end hardware with limited availability. Additionally, the synthetic video market is growing rapidly, with MarketsandMarkets estimating that it will exceed $10 billion by 2027 with mass adoption in advertising, products, entertainment and education.
Over the months, Sora has established itself as one of the most powerful creative tools in the digital ecosystem. His ease in creating cinematic scenes, animations and experimental projects created a wave of viral content that contributed to his worldwide fame.
However, the new limit of five clips per day nips in the bud the culture of trial and error that sustains nascent creativity. For thousands of users, from students and independent animators to regular creators, Sora has moved from being a space to explore to a tool to be used with care.
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