- OpenAI’s Sora app has reached the top of the app charts in the US despite being invite-only.
- The app gained 164,000 installs two days after launch.
- The Sora app combines an AI video creator with a social feed for video mixing and sharing.
OpenAI’s new Sora app for creating and sharing AI-powered videos quickly became the most downloaded app on Apple’s US App Store despite requiring an invitation to use. The app recorded more than 164,000 installs in just its first two days, according to Appfigures, and has surpassed rival AI apps, including OpenAI’s own ChatGPT, to become number one on the overall App Store charts.
The fact that an app that most people haven’t yet been allowed to use is already outperforming the biggest names in AI is quite a feat. The likely reason is the launch of the app alongside the new Sora 2 model. The app offers access to the new AI video model as well as a social feed with remixing features. You can even upload a video of yourself and make clips starring your own AI avatar.
And that’s what people seem to want right now, judging by the downloads, 56,000 on its first day alone. Those first day numbers match Grok and crush the launches of Claude and Microsoft Copilot. Even ChatGPT’s debut on iOS surpassed it slightly, with 81,000 installs on the first day.
For users, the Sora app represents an even more direct appeal than ChatGPT. There is no pretense of productivity or help with work, except in the case of making TikTok-style clips. And because it’s standalone and not a feature of ChatGPT, it doesn’t have the same more technical approach to interaction.
The quality and value of the videos can and are debated intensely online, even as more disturbing or downright disgusting videos emerge.
Sora 2’s cinematic mission
The invite-only approach may not change anytime soon. OpenAI built the app with guardrails that require explicit permission for cameos, watermarked videos, and prohibit many types of prompts. However, the company has already had to update Sora’s content policies after users began uploading copyrighted characters, celebrity faces or dangerous visual tricks.
Despite how popular the app is proving to be, and with monetization on the horizon, Sora could become a new pillar of OpenAI’s business. So you can probably expect the Internet to be more full of stuff that no one filmed, no one put together, and no one spent weeks producing. Whether that’s exciting or depressing depends on your perspective, but the download numbers point to a positive trend for now.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
