Sora Becomes OpenAI’s Fastest-Growing App Ever with 1 Million Downloads

An executive claims that less than five days after its late September launch, OpenAI’s short-form AI video app, Sora, had one million downloads.

In a post on X late Wednesday, OpenAI’s Sora chief, Bill Peebles, announced the milestone. According to him, Sora achieved one million downloads even more quickly than ChatGPT, the company’s well-known AI chatbot, which serves 800 million active users each week.

By entering a prompt, users of Sora can create short videos for free. The software is invite-based, meaning users require a code to use it, and it is only compatible with iOS devices. Sora has risen to the top of the Apple App Store despite these limitations.

Peebles stated, “The team [is] working hard to keep up with surging growth.”

Intense criticism has also been directed at Sora’s launch, specifically over potential copyright violations. CNBC was able to create numerous characters on its own after watching videos on the platform including characters from shows like “South Park,” “Rick and Morty,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

In a statement released Monday, the Motion Picture Association, which represents the home video, motion picture, and television industries, claimed that “videos that infringe our members’ films, shows, and characters have proliferated on OpenAI’s service.”

The MPA’s CEO, Charles Rivkin, stated in the statement that “OpenAI must act swiftly and decisively to address this issue.” “Here, creators’ rights are protected by well-established copyright law.”

In a blog post last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the business will soon grant rights holders more precise control over character generation.

Altman told reporters during the company’s DevDay event on Monday that some users had expressed dissatisfaction over Sora’s excessive restrictions. As the business works out best practices, he begged for patience.

“Please give us some grace,” Altman said. “The rate of change will be high.”