OpenAI’s new AI video and social media app, Sora, seems to be a hit, as it has completed 1 million downloads on iOS in just five days, faster than ChatGPT.
OpenAI confirmed that the Sora iPhone app reached one million downloads in five days of its September 30 launch, faster than the ChatGPT iOS app. What’s impressive is that Sora managed to reach that milestone so fast despite the limitations. OpenAI released Sora only in the U.S. and Canada, but downloading the app in these markets would not guarantee access. Users would need an invite (an access code) to start using the app. Sora isn’t available on Android.
OpenAI’s head of Sora, Bill Peebles confirmed the achievement on X on Thursday, saying that the team is «working hard to keep up with surging growth», and teasing that «more features and fixes to overmoderation» are on the way. Peebles’ comments came after separate reports highlighted the popularity of Sora compared to the ChatGPT iPhone app.
sora hit 1M app downloads in <5 days, even faster than chatgpt did (despite the invite flow and only targeting north america!)!
team working hard to keep up with surging growth. more features and fixes to overmoderation on the way!
— Bill Peebles (@billpeeb) October 9, 2025
TechCrunch looked at app tracking data to point out that the Sora app had experienced a stronger first week in the App Store than ChatGPT: Sora saw 627,000 downloads in the first seven days compared to 606,000 downloads for the ChatGPT app.
