OpenAI’s new social video app, Sora, climbed to third place on the App Store just days after its launch. This puts the company, along with ChatGPT, already on the list, in the top two apps in the top three. However, Gemini, powered by Google’s “Nano Banana” image model, holds the top spot.

Sora attracts significant interest

Released on September 30th, Sora is based on a revamped version of OpenAI’s highly anticipated generative video model. Available by invitation only, the app has seen a rapid launch, garnering 56,000 downloads on its first day and 108,000 on its second. According to research firm AppFigures, this performance has already made Sora one of the strongest new players on the App Store. TechCrunch notes that this data puts Sora’s launch on par with the launch of Elon Musk’s xAI-powered Grok app. However, Sora still lags behind ChatGPT and Gemini, which both garnered over 80,000 downloads on their launch day.

The app rankings belie claims of a lack of interest in AI. Gemini’s enduring success in the App Store and OpenAI’s top three rankings with two different apps demonstrate that users continue to show strong interest in AI tools. Notably, two of the top three apps focus on image and video creation rather than text. This suggests that mobile users prefer to use AI primarily through visual experiences.

Gemini continues to stand out with its ability to generate reference-accurate images, while Sora stands out with its hyper-realistic video production and social features. However, this rise is also likely to spark controversies such as trademark infringement and AI content pollution.