Generating Sora 2 videos now requires phone verification

[mild cliff]

I can't generate videos anymore, however, when I try all of my numbers, it doesn't work. Using virtual phone numbers (free/paid) doesn't work. What can I do?

[fresh zodiac]

Hi @mild cliff. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave:

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You’re running into OpenAI’s phone verification rules, which are quite strict.

From the docs:

• Phone verification is required when generating your first API key on platform.openai.com, but not for general ChatGPT usage. [Phone requirement; What verification looks like]
• A phone number can be used for verification at most 3 times total across OpenAI accounts. After that, it cannot be used again. [Phone reuse limit]
• Virtual / VoIP / Google Voice / landline / premium numbers are not supported; only standard mobile numbers via SMS (or WhatsApp in some regions) are allowed. [No VoIP/landlines]
• Verification cannot be done via email or phone call. [No email/call verification]

Given that:

1. If you’ve already used your real mobile number 3 times across different OpenAI accounts, you won’t be able to use it again.
2. Virtual numbers (even paid ones) will not work at all.
3. If you deleted a consumer ChatGPT account, the number may be freed after ~30 days and then reusable, but only if the account wasn’t disabled for policy violations. [Phone reuse limit]

Your only options, based on the docs, are:

• Use a different, real mobile number that hasn’t hit the 3‑account limit and is able to receive SMS (or WhatsApp where supported).
• If you recently deleted a consumer ChatGPT account that used your number, wait until the number is removed from OpenAI’s system (about 30 days) and then try again with that same number, assuming it wasn’t banned. [Phone reuse limit]
• If you believe your number should work but doesn’t, contact OpenAI support via the Help Center (“AI Chat” or phone) for account‑specific help. [Phone requirement]

The knowledge sources don’t mention any exceptions beyond this, and they explicitly say there are no exceptions to the 3‑times‑per‑number rule. [Phone reuse limit]

Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:

@mild cliff Kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.

[mild cliff]

@fresh zodiac I've solved it

[fresh zodiac]

Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! :books:

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Glad to hear it’s working now.

If you run into any more Sora or phone-verification issues in the future, the most up-to-date rules are in the phone verification and API key requirement articles on the Help Center.

Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon: