OpenAI’s video-generating app Sora has outpaced ChatGPT’s iOS debut, marking one of the strongest AI app launches to date. According to new data from app intelligence provider Appfigures, Sora recorded 627,000 iOS downloads in its first seven days—surpassing ChatGPT’s 606,000 downloads during its own first week on iOS.
Shortly after the report’s release, Bill Peebles, OpenAI’s head of Sora, announced that the app had already reached one million downloads in under five days. He said it was faster than ChatGPT, even though Sora remains in invite-only mode. (Currently, Sora is iOS-only.)
OpenAI’s Sora reaches 1M downloads in 5 days
The project launched concurrently in the United States and Canada, whereas ChatGPT initially only launched in the United States. Based only on U.S. numbers, Sora still achieved roughly 96% of ChatGPT’s launch performance, with Appfigures estimating that Canada contributed about 45,000 installs.
Unlike ChatGPT, which OpenAI made publicly available at launch, Sora requires an invitation to access. Despite that obstacle, the software has outperformed ChatGPT, showing that consumers strongly favor AI-generated video content.
According to Appfigures, Sora saw 56,000 iOS installs on its first day, swiftly rising to the No. 3 Top Overall app in the U.S. App Store. It surpassed significant AI competitors like Microsoft’s Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude to reach No. 1 by Friday, October 3, matching the early success of xAI’s Grok launch.
These figures are supported by social media activity. With the help of the video model, which enables users to produce incredibly lifelike deepfakes, feeds have been overrun with Sora-generated videos. Zelda Williams, the late Robin Williams’ daughter, has pleaded with users to stop sending her AI-generated pictures of her father after some users created deepfakes of deceased people.
According to data from Appfigures, the platfom has continued to grow rapidly since its September 30, 2025, release. Downloads per day ranged steadily from 84,400 (October 6) to 98,500 (October 4), with a peak of 107,800 on October 1.
Even though the initial spike in downloads has somewhat subsided, the app’s growth is still impressive, particularly considering that the majority of people still need an invitation to access the app.
Featured Image Credit: Artem Podrez; Pexels: Thank you!
