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AI video APIs do not share one universal rejection rulebook. Runway documents moderation of text prompts and image inputs, while Microsoft’s Azure-hosted Sora 2 API lists restrictions that include copyrighted characters and music, real people, and input images containing faces. Their documented responses to a block also differ. The available documentation supports comparing policies and failure handling—not ranking which service is “stricter.”

What AI video generator APIs may evaluate

Moderation can apply to more than the words in a prompt. Runway says its API may moderate a request because of a text prompt or an image input. OpenAI’s Sora 2 system card describes checks on prompts and generated material, including output frames, audio transcripts, comments, and scene descriptions. These are documented systems for different product surfaces and points in time, not a guarantee that every current endpoint uses the same checks.

For developers, this distinction matters: a request can be rejected because of supplied material, because of the requested content, or after generation when output is checked. A failure should not automatically be treated as proof that a particular word or asset was the sole cause.

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Runway: policy scope and API consequences

Runway’s Usage Policy, last updated March 6, 2026, says automated systems and internal human review are used to detect and block harmful content in user inputs and outputs. Its prohibited categories include child sexual abuse or sexualization and harmful acts involving minors; terrorism and violent extremism; graphic violence and gore; sexually explicit content, adult nudity, and non-consensual intimate imagery; specified hateful, harassing, and self-harm content; unauthorized use of another person’s image, video, or audio; privacy compromises; potential intellectual-property violations; and requests for the style of a known living artist. The policy says violations can result in account suspension. Read Runway’s Usage Policy.

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How a moderated API request appears

Runway’s moderation documentation says a moderated request returns a task with status FAILED; the response includes failure and failureCode details. Its failure documentation distinguishes SAFETY.INPUT.* from SAFETY.OUTPUT.*, which can help identify whether moderation occurred on input or output. However, Runway describes the code suffix as a best-effort clue to the likely source, not an exact pointer to the offending input. See Runway’s Content Moderation System documentation and Task Failures documentation.

Credits, refunds, and retries

Runway states: “Moderated generations have the same credit cost as successful generations.” Its failure guidance says safety failures are not refunded and advises against retrying them. Too many moderated requests may lead to account suspension. That makes blind retries a poor recovery strategy: inspect the failure information, review the prompt and reference material against the policy, and only submit a revised request when it is policy-compliant.

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Azure-hosted Sora 2: specific documented restrictions

Microsoft’s Azure Foundry documentation for the Sora 2 API (preview) says the API currently enforces an under-18 suitability restriction. It also lists rejection of copyrighted characters and copyrighted music, generation of real people—including public figures—and input images containing human faces. Microsoft recommends ensuring prompts, reference images, and transcripts comply with these rules to avoid failed generations. These are Azure’s documented API restrictions, not a universal standard for AI video services. See Microsoft’s Sora 2 video generation overview.

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The page’s preview status and stated limits are subject to change. Check the current endpoint, account, and region documentation before designing a production workflow; do not assume a restriction or parameter described for one Azure deployment applies identically elsewhere.

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OpenAI Sora and Azure Sora 2 are different surfaces

OpenAI’s safety page says the Sora product is no longer available as of April 26, 2026. That availability statement concerns the OpenAI Sora product; it does not establish that the separately documented Azure-hosted Sora 2 API is unavailable. Confirm access for the intended account and region rather than treating consumer product availability as an API status update. Read OpenAI’s Sora safety and availability page.

OpenAI’s Sora 2 system card describes safeguards from the initial deployment, including prompt blocking, checks of output frames and audio transcripts, and output blocking after generation. It also describes initial safeguards concerning real people and likenesses. Because this is a launch-era system card, it should not be used as the current specification for Azure’s API or as evidence of current OpenAI API access. Read the Sora 2 System Card.

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How to compare the services without overstating the evidence

Question Runway documentation Azure-hosted Sora 2 documentation
What can be evaluated? Text prompts and image inputs; the Usage Policy also covers user inputs and outputs. Microsoft’s page addresses prompts, reference images, and transcripts; it documents restrictions on those inputs.
What restrictions are explicit? Broad policy categories covering safety, privacy, likeness, intellectual property, and living-artist style requests. Under-18 suitability; copyrighted characters and music; real people, including public figures; and face-containing input images.
What does a block return? A failed task with failure details and a failure code; safety codes distinguish input from output moderation, but may not identify the precise trigger. The cited overview describes restrictions and failed generations, but does not establish a comparable diagnostic-code scheme.
What happens to credits or account access? Moderated generations cost the same credits as successful generations; safety failures are not refunded; repeated moderation can risk suspension. The cited overview does not state a comparable credit, refund, or account-enforcement rule.

The sources do not provide comparable rejection rates or false-positive measurements. A strictness ranking would require controlled, matched testing across current models, endpoints, and regions; policy wording alone cannot establish how often requests are rejected.

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A practical, policy-compliant workflow

  1. Identify the exact service surface. Verify whether you are using Runway’s API, Azure Foundry’s Sora 2 API, or another product. Confirm account and region availability and consult that endpoint’s current documentation.
  2. Review every supplied asset. Check rights and consent for reference images, video, and audio. For Azure Sora 2, do not submit images containing human faces under the restrictions documented by Microsoft.
  3. Write prompts within the provider’s stated rules. Remove prohibited requests rather than trying alternate wording to evade moderation. Check the relevant policy’s own categories and examples.
  4. Handle a failure as a diagnostic event. For Runway, inspect the returned status, failure details, and code. Treat the code as a clue, not a definitive explanation; do not automatically retry safety failures.
  5. Track changes to the service. Record the provider, endpoint or model version, region, and date used by your workflow. Recheck documentation when a preview service or policy changes.

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