OpenAI recently introduced the iOS app of its video generation platform Sora. Surprisingly, it has nearly matched the first-week download numbers of ChatGPT’s initial launch. If we go by the data shared by Appfigures, Sora recorded around 627,000 iOS downloads in its first seven days, which is slightly ahead of ChatGPT’s 606,000 installs during its launch week.
The comparison isn’t entirely one-to-one, as Sora launched in both the US and Canada, while ChatGPT initially rolled out only in the US. Canada accounted for over 45,000 of Sora’s total downloads, which means its US-only numbers are roughly 96% of ChatGPT’s first-week performance.
However, on the other hand, what makes Sora’s performance stand out even more is that the app remains invite-only. Despite the limited access, it quickly became one of the most downloaded apps on the US App Store, reaching the number one spot on October 3. On its first day, the app saw 56,000 installs and peaked at over 107,000 daily downloads on October 1.
Sora’s rise puts it in the same league as other high-profile AI app launches like xAI’s Grok, while surpassing the early traction of Microsoft’s Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude.
The app, powered by the Sora 2 video model, allows users to create realistic AI-generated videos, a feature that has already stirred some controversy online. Concerns over the technology’s potential misuse, including deepfakes of public figures and deceased individuals, have sparked debate about ethical AI use.
