OpenAI’s latest app, Sora, has reached one million downloads in under five days, making it one of the fastest-growing AI tools to date. The figure, confirmed by Sora head Bill Peebles, puts it ahead of ChatGPT’s early adoption rate.
Unlike when ChatGPT was launched, Sora arrives at a time when generative AI is already part of everyday life. The app is currently available only in North America and requires an invitation to create an account after installation.
Sora presents an endless vertical video feed, similar to TikTok. However, the videos are not uploaded by users but are generated automatically through OpenAI’s Sora 2 model. Users can type a short text prompt to generate ten-second clips described by the company as “AI Slop” — a term used for low-quality or repetitive AI-created media.
One of Sora’s notable features is the ability to insert a person’s likeness into generated videos. By recording their voice and capturing short head-turning photos, users allow the app to create a virtual profile that can appear in AI-generated scenes.
Copyright and Legal Concerns
The swift rise of Sora has alarmed parts of the entertainment industry, with companies and creators saying the app could reproduce copyrighted material without approval.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged that upcoming features — including the use of popular fictional characters — have triggered what he called “legal chaos.” Industry sources report that major studios are closely monitoring Sora 2 to ensure copyright rules are not violated.
The ability to create videos featuring well-known characters such as Pikachu has led to examination of the data used to train the OpenAI’s video-generation model.
In response, OpenAI has added controls limiting how user likenesses appear in videos and announced that rights holders will soon be able to specify how their fictional characters may be used within Sora.
Analysts say this move could create new business opportunities for generative media, which still faces challenges in achieving profitability, according to Futurism.