OpenAI's Sora App: A Viral Hit Sparking Excitement and Controversy

OpenAI's Sora soars to No. 3 on the U.S. App Store | TechCrunch

OpenAI's Sora app for AI videos is a viral hit, despite being invite-only for now and limited to users in the U.S. and Canada at launch. On its first day, Sora saw 56,000 downloads, and is now ranked as the No. 3 Top Overall app on the U.S. App Store, according to new data from app intelligence provider Appfigures. The firm estimates Sora's iOS app pulled in a total of 164,000 installs during its first two days, September 30th and October 1st. The day-one figure puts Sora's debut ahead of the performance of other major AI app launches, including Anthropic's Claude and Microsoft's Copilot, and puts it on par with xAI's Grok launch. Meanwhile, OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini iOS apps had somewhat stronger launches, with each reaching at least 80,000 downloads on day one. Since Sora is still invite-only, this may not be the fairest comparison, we'll admit. It's possible the new video app could have attracted even more installs if it were open to all users. Despite this restriction, it's a fairly strong showing for the new release, indicating demand for AI video tools in consumers' hands in more of a social networking-like experience. (This is much to the chagrin of some at OpenAI, who want the company to focus on solving harder problems that benefit humanity. But who's to say that humanity isn't benefiting from deepfakes of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asking, "Are my piggies enjoying their slop?") To compare Sora's early success to other AI apps, Appfigures had to run an analysis that only looked at the other AI apps' U.S. and Canadian downloads. That's because the different AI apps on the market have pursued different launch strategies. For instance, ChatGPT initially launched on iOS and limited itself to U.S. users at the time, while Grok limited its iOS-only release to the U.S., Australia, and India. Anthropic, meanwhile, didn't indicate there were geographic restrictions when it first brought its Claude app to iOS last year. For a more of an apples-to-apples comparison, Appfigures crunched the numbers to focus only on each app's U.S. downloads, plus those in Canada, if the app had been available there at launch. It found that ChatGPT and Gemini had larger launches than Sora, with 81,000 and 80,000 day-one iOS downloads, respectively. Sora tied with Grok for day-one installs, at 56,000. And it easily beat out the launches from AI apps Claude and Copilot. The former pulled in 21,000 day-one downloads, while the latter only saw 7,000. Sora also hit the U.S. App Store's top charts, becoming the No. 3 overall top app by day two. For comparison, ChatGPT reached No. 1 on its second day, while Grok was No. 4, Gemini was No. 6, Copilot was No. 19, and Claude was No. 78.

You'll Need an Invite Code to Use OpenAI's New Sora App. Here's How to Get One

The maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT decided to try its hand at social media. OpenAI announced this week that it has built a new social media platform named after its video generation tool, Sora. The app is now available for iPhone users, but you can't just download it and start churning out AI videos. Read More: AI Is Taking Over Our Social Media Feeds, but Maybe Not How You Expect Sora isn't like other social media apps. It's built for real humans but full of AI-generated videos. Nothing you see on the platform is authentic, as its own disclaimer reads. Still, OpenAI wants you to use Sora to connect with your friends and loved ones. To do this, you'll need an invite code from a friend. The idea is that you and your friends will all want to join together. Invite codes have been rolling out slowly since Sora dropped on Tuesday. If you or your friends don't have one yet, here's what you should do. OpenAI said in a post that it's starting the initial rollout in the US and Canada and intends to expand quickly to additional countries. The company is prioritizing its paying Pro users for Sora access. Once you get an invite code, you can finish setting up your Sora account. You can then use Sora through the mobile app or website, and you'll get access to four new invite codes to share with your friends. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

There's a new OpenAI app in town - here's what to know about Sora for iOS

The app is currently invite-only and limited to select countries. A new app is climbing up the App Store's Top Charts, and like many of the apps in the rankings, it revolves around AI. OpenAI has released an iOS app version of its Sora AI video generator that allows users to create personalized AI-generated videos. Since its invite-only launch on Tuesday, alongside the new Sora 2 model, the Sora app has enjoyed the number three spot in the App Store's Top Charts, behind the Google Gemini and ChatGPT apps. The app utilizes OpenAI's Sora 2 AI video engine, and its layout features a social media-esque style, allowing users to discover and interact with other people's video creations. Aside from the social aspect, users can create short-form, AI-generated videos featuring themselves or their friends. Also: How to use OpenAI's Sora to create stunning AI-generated videos Additionally, OpenAI asserts there are safeguards and limits within the app, including likeness protection for users who want to control how and when their image is used in other users' cameos. A one-time video and audio recording of yourself captures your likeness, which will be used within the app. For now, the Sora app is invite-only and restricted to iOS, and availability is limited to the US and Canada. OpenAI's Sora 2 AI-generated video and audio engine is only available to use within the Sora app. According to OpenAI, Sora 2's capabilities significantly exceed those of the previous model, offering synchronized dialogue and sound, greater adherence to the natural laws of physics, a deeper understanding of complex instructions, and more realistic results. Also: The fastest growing AI chatbot lately? It's not ChatGPT or Gemini If you want to try your hand at accessing Sora 2 before it's widely available, you can download the Sora iOS app in the App Store. Then, you can sign up to receive a notification when your account is granted access. It's unclear how long it takes to receive access, or if certain accounts are given precedence over others. In a blog post, the Sora Team said Sora 2 will be free to users with "generous limits," so people can openly explore its capabilities. Also: The telltale sign that you used ChatGPT - and a trick to avoid it OpenAI's Sora 2 video engine directly competes with Google's Veo 2, the company's well-received AI video and audio engine. However, Google's Veo 2 is not available to free-tier users and instead is open to Gemini Advanced subscribers.

Hype for OpenAI's Sora Sparks a Resale Market for Invite Codes on eBay

When he's not battling bugs and robots in Helldivers 2, Michael is reporting on AI, satellites, cybersecurity, PCs, and tech policy. Don't miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google. We've seen scalpers target video game consoles, graphics cards, and gaming handhelds. However, some people are now reselling invite codes for OpenAI's TikTok competitor, Sora. Since the app's launch yesterday, over 20 listings for the invites have popped up on eBay, according to 404 Media, which successfully purchased a working code. AI-generated videos from Sora have been filling up social media, creating hype for what's effectively OpenAI's first social media app. Although Sora is free to download on iOS, OpenAI has limited its availability to those with invite codes. The smaller pool of users can help the company mitigate potential abuse while capping the computational costs of extensive AI video generation. But the invite approach is also giving scalpers a chance to profit. The resellers are offering invite codes for $20 to $35, although one merchant tried and failed to auction off an invite code for $175. EBay's Terapeak tool also shows that over 120 invite codes have been resold since yesterday. 404 Media adds that a user can essentially farm the invite codes since, after you successfully register on Sora, the app will give you four new invite codes to share with others. If you don't want to pay, some Sora users have been offering invite codes for free on Reddit and X/Twitter. Sora's availability is expected to open up over time and expand to Android. But in a blog post, OpenAI noted that the AI video generator "will initially be available for free, with generous limits to start so people can freely explore its capabilities," suggesting the company will try to monetize the service down the line. OpenAI's research scientist for Sora, Bill Peebles, also posted a video about scaling up invites, but it comes with a trade-off. "As a heads-up, when more people come onto the platform, gens/day (video generations per day) will need to decrease to support the increased volume," he tweeted. Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

People Are Farming and Selling Sora 2 Invite Codes on eBay

People are farming and selling invite codes for Sora 2 on eBay, which is currently the fastest and most reliable way to get onto OpenAI's new video generation and TikTok-clone-but-make-it-AI-slop app. Because of the way Sora is set up, it is possible to buy one code, register an account, then get more codes with the new account and repeat the process. On eBay, there are about 20 active listings for Sora 2 invite codes and 30 completed listings in which invite codes have sold. I bought a code from a seller for $12, and received a working code a few minutes later. The moment I activated my account, I was given four new codes for Sora 2. When I went into the histories of some of the sellers, many of them had sold a handful of codes previously, suggesting they were able to get their hands on more than four invites. It's possible to do this just by cycling through accounts; each invite code is good for four invites, so it is possible to use one invite code for a new account for yourself, sell three of them, and repeat the process. There are also dozens of people claiming to be selling or giving away codes on Reddit and X; some are asking for money via Cash App or Venmo, while others are asking for crypto. One guy has even created a website in which he has generated all 2.1 billion six-digit hexadecimal combinations to allow people to randomly guess / brute force the app (the site is a joke). The fact that the invite codes are being sold across the internet is an indication that OpenAI has been able to capture some initial hype with the release of the app (which we'll have much more to say about soon), but does not necessarily mean that it's going to be some huge success or have sustained attention. Code and app invite sales are very common on eBay, even for apps and concert tickets (or game consoles, or other items) that eventually aren't very popular or are mostly just a flash in the pan. But much of my timeline today is talking about Sora 2, which suggests that we may be crossing some sort of AI slop creation rubicon.