OpenAI's new video app Sora nearly matches ChatGPT debut with 627k installs in 1 week

OpenAI’s new video app Sora has recorded an estimated 627,000 iOS downloads in its first seven days, narrowly exceeding ChatGPT’s debut week total of 606,000, according to Appfigures data reported by TechCrunch.

On a like-for-like reading, Sora’s tally has been “nearly as big” as ChatGPT’s launch. Because ChatGPT’s first week on iOS has been U.S.-only while Sora has launched across the U.S. and Canada, Appfigures has estimated that Canada contributed about 45,000 installs; stripping those out puts Sora at roughly 96% of ChatGPT’s U.S.-only launch.

Invite-only rollout has still topped the App Store

Despite being invite-only at launch, Sora has climbed the U.S. App Store charts, reaching No. 1 on Friday, 3 October 2025. The app has seen around 56,000 day-one installs and 164,000 across its first two days (30 September–1 October), Appfigures has said.

Appfigures’ daily estimates have shown momentum has held: downloads peaked at about 107,800 on 1 October, with subsequent daily lows and highs of roughly 84,400 (6 October) and 98,500 (4 October), respectively.

What is Sora?

Sora offers short, AI-generated videos powered by the Sora 2 model, with improvements to realism and audio–video synchronisation compared with earlier iterations, according to reporting on its App Store ascent.

The near-parity with ChatGPT’s iOS debut has underscored how quickly consumer interest in generative video has scaled. Notably, Sora has achieved this while gated by invites, whereas ChatGPT’s app was more broadly available at launch.

Recently, OpenAI also introduced apps inside ChatGPT, plus an Apps SDK for developers, and an AgentKit to help developers build and deploy AI agents.