OpenAI’s Sora app, the tool for generating AI videos, has proven to be a massive viral hit. This success is particularly notable because the app is currently invite-only and is geographically limited to users in the U.S. and Canada at its initial launch.
On its very first day, Sora logged an impressive 56,000 downloads, according to new data from app intelligence provider Appfigures. The app’s momentum was strong, quickly moving up the rankings to become the No. 3 Top Overall app on Apple’s U.S. App Store by its second day. This trajectory continued, and by Friday, October 3, the Sora app had officially claimed the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store. This chart-topping position placed it ahead of both Google Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Appfigures estimates that the iOS application accumulated a total of 164,000 installs across its first two days, September 30 and October 1.
Performance Compared to AI Rivals
Sora’s day-one download figure of 56,000 was better than the debut performance of several other major AI app launches, including Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft’s Copilot. It was also on par with the launch performance of xAI’s Grok. However, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini iOS apps saw slightly stronger launches, with each securing at least 80,000 downloads on their respective first days. It must be noted that since Sora is invite-only, the comparison may be imperfect; the new video app could have attracted even more installs if it had been open to all users. Despite this restriction, the strong initial showing signals clear consumer demand for AI video creation tools that offer a social networking-like experience.
A Level Comparison of AI App Launches
To provide a more accurate comparison, Appfigures conducted an analysis focused solely on U.S. and Canadian downloads for all competitor apps, acknowledging that different AI products had varied launch strategies. For example, ChatGPT was initially limited to U.S. users, and Grok restricted its iOS release to the U.S., Australia, and India. When focusing the numbers on U.S. downloads, plus Canadian downloads where available, the data shows that ChatGPT led with 81,000 day-one iOS downloads, followed closely by Gemini with 80,000. Sora and Grok tied with 56,000 day-one installs, easily surpassing both Claude, which had 21,000, and Copilot, which only saw 7,000 on its launch day.
Sora’s chart performance also stood out. Reaching the No. 3 overall top app by day two compares favorably with rivals: ChatGPT hit No. 1 on its second day, while Grok reached No. 4, Gemini No. 6, Copilot No. 19, and Claude No. 78.
What The Author Thinks
The phenomenal, nearly instantaneous success of a creatively focused, invite-only application like Sora clearly demonstrates a pivotal shift in consumer interest toward visual and entertainment AI tools. While general-purpose models like Gemini focus on productivity, Sora’s rapid adoption proves that novelty and creative fun can generate more viral excitement and drive faster market penetration. This viral success provides OpenAI with critical user data and market momentum, potentially validating a strategy of building consumer-facing “toys” that generate revenue and public interest, which in turn fuels the resources for tackling more complex, world-changing AI problems down the line.
Featured image credit: FMT
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.