Sora’s U.S. iOS Launch Week Nearly Matched ChatGPT’s Impact

With OpenAI’s video creation app Sora climbing to the top of the U.S. App Store, recent insights from data analytics firm Appfigures indicate that it has experienced a more impressive launch week than ChatGPT on iOS. Sora achieved 627,000 downloads in its first week, outpacing ChatGPT’s 606,000 iOS downloads during its debut week.

Nonetheless, this comparison may not be entirely fair, given that ChatGPT was only available in the U.S. during its launch week, while Sora was released in both the U.S. and Canada. Appfigures estimates that about 45,000 downloads originated from Canada, meaning Sora’s performance in the U.S. was around 96% of ChatGPT’s metrics.

The level of consumer interest is particularly notable, especially considering that Sora is currently an invite-only application, whereas ChatGPT was readily accessible from the outset. This distinction amplifies the significance of Sora’s success.

In its first 24 hours, Sora garnered 56,000 downloads, landing it at No. 3 on the U.S. App Store’s Top Overall apps list. By Friday, October 3, it climbed to the No. 1 position. This impressive growth places Sora ahead of other notable AI app launches, including Claude by Anthropic and Microsoft’s Copilot, putting it on par with xAI’s Grok launch.

A quick scan of social media showcases numerous testimonials that support Appfigures’ statistics. Videos produced by Sora, which utilizes the sophisticated Sora 2 video model to generate realistic deepfakes, are becoming increasingly common. Some users have made deepfakes of deceased individuals, prompting Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late Robin Williams, to urge the public to stop sending her AI-generated images of her father.

As reported by Appfigures, Sora has maintained a steady rate of adoption since its launch on September 30, 2025. Daily downloads hit a peak of 107,800 on October 1, 2025, fluctuating between a low of 84,400 installs (on October 6) and a high of 98,500 installs (on October 4).

Although the numbers have dipped slightly from earlier in the week, they still indicate strong user engagement for an app that remains restricted in access.