TECH NEWS – OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has scored another massive success with its new AI-powered video app, which is pulling in hundreds of thousands of downloads per day — despite being accessible only through invitations.

OpenAI’s newest creation, Sora, an AI-driven video generation app, is showing explosive growth in downloads. According to Bill Peebles, head of OpenAI Sora, the app reached one million downloads in less than five days, averaging around 200,000 per day. The momentum is particularly remarkable given that Sora is not currently free to use and requires an invite for access. Additionally, the app is only available in North America for now.

OpenAI Sora 2 is a text-to-video model designed to let users create and share AI-generated videos. Functioning as a social media platform, it allows users to upload still images and animate them into dynamic videos. Through its Cameo feature, users can insert hyper-realistic avatars of themselves into various clips. The app automatically adds background music, sound effects, and even dialogue depending on the prompt. Its TikTok-style “For You” feed continuously serves AI-generated videos tailored to each user’s preferences.

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

Of course, Sora hasn’t avoided controversy — especially regarding potential copyright violations. Some users have already managed to create original characters and insert them into iconic shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Rick and Morty, and South Park, altering the original storylines. The Motion Picture Association issued a statement criticizing the growing number of videos on OpenAI’s platform that infringe on its members’ intellectual property, urging the company to take swift and firm action to address the issue.

In response, OpenAI is planning to provide copyright holders with more direct control over character creation and usage within the app to prevent further misuse and strengthen protection for creators.

Source: WCCFTech, OpenAI, CNBC