The excitement around Sora, OpenAI’s latest foray into AI-powered video creation, reached fever pitch this week.
Despite a strict invitation system and being available only in the United States and Canada, Sora shot up the rankings, snagging the third overall spot on Apple’s US App Store within just two days.
On its first day live, Sora notched up 56,000 downloads, matching the strong debut of xAI’s Grok app and vaulting past both Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft’s Copilot, which lagged behind with significantly fewer installs.
To put that in perspective, Claude managed just 21,000 downloads on its opening day, while Copilot only reached 7,000. Sora’s momentum didn’t slow there, amassing a total of 164,000 installs over its first two days.
ChatGPT and Gemini have set the bar high, with ChatGPT hitting 81,000 day-one downloads and Gemini following closely with 80,000. Yet Sora’s performance, especially under the restrictions of an invite and location limitation, is a clear sign of hunger for new AI video tools among mobile users.
Sora Stirs Competition in the AI App Race
Sora leapfrogged over Google Gemini and even ChatGPT in the App Store charts one day after launch, according to Appfigures data. Its surge reflected a broader enthusiasm for AI infused social tools, blurring the lines between entertainment and technology.
While some inside OpenAI have expressed reservations, arguing that the company should prioritize more profound problems, Sora’s viral ascent can’t be brushed aside. As one observer put it, “Who’s to say that humanity isn’t benefiting from deepfakes of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asking, ‘Are my piggies enjoying their slop?’”
App intelligence firm Appfigures, for apples to apples comparison, examined only US and Canada numbers for each of the major apps in this wave. This approach helped paint a level playing field, as different companies rolled out their apps with varying exclusivity tactics and regional access.
By its second day, Sora had reached third spot among all apps on the US App Store. In this crowded field, that’s a position surpassed only by ChatGPT, which became number one after two days.
Grok managed fourth, Gemini settled at sixth, Copilot reached nineteenth and Claude trailed behind at seventy-eighth.
For a product that isn’t even freely available to all yet, Sora has rattled the competition.
Although some still debate the app’s ultimate value, the numbers show a genuine surge in consumer interest for new ways to create and share videos using AI.
