# OpenAI Is Shutting Down Prism on January 1, 2027

> OpenAI's Prism, the free LaTeX workspace for scientists, closes January 1, 2027 and deletes all data. What exports, what is lost, what to do.

- Author: Nitish Garg, Founder & CEO, CellCog
- Published: 2026-10-30
- Canonical (HTML): https://cellcog.ai/blog/openai-prism-shutdown/
- Section: Guides / Choosing a platform
- Publisher: CellCog (https://cellcog.ai), the AI employee platform. Blog index for agents: https://cellcog.ai/blog/llms.txt

## Key points

- OpenAI will shut down Prism, its free LaTeX workspace for scientists, on January 1, 2027.
- After shutdown, all Prism-related data will be deleted and cannot be recovered, per OpenAI's migration guide.
- Users can export every project as a zip from Settings, Data Controls, and single projects from the title menu.
- Project history, inline comments, collaborator permissions and the live Zotero connection do not move with the export.
- OpenAI points users to Codex for the LaTeX source, though it does not reproduce Prism's shared real-time editor.

## At a glance

- **When does Prism shut down?** January 1, 2027. OpenAI's notice on the Prism announcement page gives the date, and users got the shutdown email on October 30, 2026.
- **What happens to my projects?** All Prism-related data is deleted after shutdown. Export each project as a zip before January 1 to keep the files.
- **What does the export leave out?** Project history, inline comments, collaborator permissions and the live Zotero connection, per OpenAI's migration guide.

OpenAI is shutting down Prism, the free LaTeX workspace it launched for scientists in January. A notice now sits at the top of the [original announcement](https://openai.com/index/introducing-prism/): "Prism will shut down on January 1, 2027." Users began posting the shutdown email on X on October 30, 2026, and a [community forum thread](https://community.openai.com/t/prism-will-shut-down-on-january-1-2027/1411150) flagged it the same afternoon.

The part that matters most is in the [migration guide](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001615-prism-to-codex-migration-guide): "After shutdown, all Prism-related data will be deleted." Researchers with papers in progress have 63 days from the email to export them, and some of what a shared project holds will not leave with the files.

## What OpenAI announced

Prism launched on January 27, 2026 as "a free, AI-native workspace for scientists to write and collaborate on research", available to anyone with a personal ChatGPT account. It will have run for 339 days when it closes. The notice asks users to "Export your Prism projects before the shutdown date to keep a copy of your files."

OpenAI's guide points users to Codex as the place to keep working on the LaTeX source. It is plain about the gap: Codex "does not reproduce Prism’s shared real-time editor", and most multi-file projects will need a local TeX toolchain. OpenAI has not published a reason for the shutdown.

## What survives the export, and what does not

The guide gives one path out: Settings, then Data Controls, then Export all projects (zip), then Download zip. Single projects export from the project title menu. The zip holds the project files; the guide lists what stays behind.

![Animated diagram: from a box labelled Your Prism project, the LaTeX source and Figures tiles travel into a box labelled Export (zip); History, Comments, Permissions and Zotero link turn grey and are struck through, and a tag reads Deleted Jan 1, 2027](https://cellcog.ai/blog/media/openai-prism-shutdown/export.svg)
*The export keeps the source and figures; the rest is deleted on January 1*

*Table: What leaves Prism with your export, per OpenAI's migration guide*

| Part of a Prism project | After export |
|---|---|
| LaTeX source and project files | Kept, in the zip |
| PDFs of finished papers | Download them yourself |
| Project history | Lost |
| Inline comments | Lost |
| Collaborator permissions | Lost |
| Live Zotero connection | Lost |
| Prism chats | Some exports include JSON files for reference only |

For a group paper, the comments and history are often where the decisions live. Anyone who needs them should copy the threads into the document, or a shared doc, before January 1.

## What to do before January 1

- **Export every project now.** The zip is the only copy that survives; OpenAI says deleted data "cannot be recovered."
- **Download PDFs of anything finished.** The guide suggests it, and a PDF needs no toolchain to open.
- **Move comment threads by hand.** Nothing carries them over, so paste the ones that matter into the source or a notes file.
- **Check that the source builds outside Prism.** Install a local TeX toolchain, or use another LaTeX editor, before the deadline rather than after.

## What is confirmed, and what is not

*Table: The Prism shutdown, claim by claim, October 30, 2026*

| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Prism shuts down January 1, 2027 | Confirmed: OpenAI's announcement page |
| All Prism data is deleted after shutdown | Confirmed: the migration guide |
| History, comments and permissions do not export | Confirmed: the migration guide |
| Codex replaces the shared editor | No: the guide says it does not |
| A reason for the shutdown | Not given by OpenAI |

## Where CellCog stands

Our conflict, declared: CellCog sells AI employees, and does not run on Prism. The shutdown is a reminder of a rule we build around: the files an AI employee makes on CellCog live in its own workspace and your Drive, where you can download them at any time.

## FAQ

**What was Prism?**

A free, AI-native workspace for scientists to write and collaborate on research in LaTeX, launched by OpenAI on January 27, 2026.

**How do I export my Prism projects?**

Open Settings, then Data Controls, then Export all projects (zip), then Download zip. Single projects export from the project title menu.

**Can deleted Prism data be recovered?**

No. OpenAI's migration guide says that once the data is deleted, it cannot be recovered.

**Is Codex a full replacement for Prism?**

Not fully. Codex can work on the exported LaTeX files, but OpenAI says it does not reproduce Prism's shared real-time editor.

**Why is OpenAI shutting Prism down?**

OpenAI has not published a reason. The notice gives only the date and asks users to export their projects.

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## The AI employee for this read

[AI Research Assistant](https://cellcog.ai/ai-employees/ai-research-assistant): I built this page. For what it covers, hire a research assistant: it reads the primary sources and cites every line.

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