OpenAI’s Sora App Surpasses 1 Million Downloads

OpenAI's Sora app, designed for creating AI-generated videos, has achieved over one million downloads. The announcement was made by Sora's lead, Bill Peebles, on the social media platform X.

Peebles noted that Sora reached the milestone faster than ChatGPT, with significant interest despite being invite-only and available only in the U.S. and Canada.

Launched at the end of September, Sora allows users to generate AI videos using realistic footage of themselves and friends. Users upload a 'cameo' or short video to use with AI prompts.

The app offers an option for users to share their cameos, enabling select individuals or anyone on Sora to create AI videos with their likeness. Despite criticism for producing AI slop, its popularity remains unaffected, maintaining its position as the top free app on Apple's App Store.

Sora utilizes OpenAI's Sora 2 video generation model, capable of handling complex movements for realistic, cinematic, and anime-style videos. Sora 2 also supports audio generation, ensuring all video creations include sound.

OpenAI designed Sora to display content based on user interactions and regularly polls users on their wellbeing. The app includes controls to modify feed content and is intended for use with friends, hence its invite-only nature.

Sora is free to download, and OpenAI currently does not restrict video generation to subscribers.