OpenAI’s new AI video creation app, Sora, has taken off at record speed. In less than five days since launch, the OpenAI Sora app crossed one million downloads, outperforming ChatGPT’s debut despite being invite-only and available only in the United States and Canada.
Bill Peebles, head of Sora at OpenAI, confirmed the milestone on X, noting that Sora reached one million installs “faster than ChatGPT,” even though it’s still restricted to iOS users. Data from Appfigures (via TechCrunch) shows that Sora recorded 627,000 iOS downloads in its first week, edging past ChatGPT’s 606,000 during the same period of its 2023 launch. About 45,000 of those installs came from Canada, meaning Sora’s U.S. launch alone achieved 96% of ChatGPT’s initial performance.
Released on September 30, Sora allows users to generate AI videos by uploading short “cameos” that can be transformed through text prompts. Built on the new Sora 2 model, the app can produce cinematic, anime-style, and photorealistic clips with synchronized audio. Within days of release, Sora climbed to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store, surpassing Anthropic’s Claude, Microsoft’s Copilot, and xAI’s Grok. Appfigures data shows Sora peaked at over 107,000 daily installs on October 1, with strong retention despite its invite-only access.
The OpenAI Sora app has quickly become a viral trend across social platforms, where users are sharing hyper-realistic AI-generated videos. Many of these include fictional characters or reimagined clips featuring real people, fueling a broader conversation about AI-generated content and digital rights. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) publicly criticized OpenAI for enabling copyrighted characters to appear in Sora videos, warning that “videos that infringe our members’ films, shows, and characters have proliferated on OpenAI’s service.”
The debate intensified after users created deepfakes of deceased celebrities, including actor Robin Williams, prompting his daughter, Zelda Williams, to call for restraint. In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a major policy shift, moving from an opt-out to an opt-in system that gives creators control over how their intellectual property is used. He also confirmed plans to share revenue with rights holders and to eventually introduce monetization options for original creators on Sora.
Speaking at OpenAI’s DevDay event, Altman addressed the controversy and rapid growth of the OpenAI Sora app, urging patience from users as the company refines its approach. “Please give us some grace,” he said. “The rate of change will be high.”
Despite its limited rollout, Sora’s surge past ChatGPT marks one of OpenAI’s strongest product launches to date. With its advanced AI video model and viral momentum, Sora is redefining how people create, share, and interact with AI-generated content.
Download Sora from the App Store here.
