After quickly reach the top of the App Store in October, OpenAI Sora video generation app is now in trouble. New data suggests the app is seeing a decline in both app downloads and consumer spending, as the initial hype around the AI video social network fades.
Powered by OpenAI’s video generation model Sora2the iOS version surpassed 100,000 installs on day one, despite being an invite-only experience. It’s soon reached first place on the American App Store, and it reached 1 million downloads milestone faster than ChatGPT. At the time, Sora’s app was iOS-only and still required an invite, which made its success all the more impressive.
However, in the weeks following Sora’s mobile debut, the app began to lose traction.
According to market information provider data Application figuresSora downloads fell 32% month-over-month in December. This is worrying because the holidays are usually a boon for mobile apps as people get new smartphones and often have time off from work, allowing them to install new apps and games.
The decline continued in January 2026, with installations down 45% month-over-month, to 1.2 million. Consumer spending also fell, down 32% month over month since January, Appfigures reported.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Like an AI-flavored TikTok, Sora allows users to create AI videos using prompts. A unique feature allows users to feature themselves and their friends as the main characters in videos, if they wish, while shared videos can be remixed by others who can personalize them further. Videos can also include music, sound effects, and dialogue to complement user-created scenes.
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In total, Sora’s app has seen 9.6 million downloads across iOS and Android, and $1.4 million in consumer spending to date. The United States accounts for the majority ($1.1 million) of this figure, followed by Japan, Canada, South Korea and Thailand.
This month, customers spent $367,000 in the Sora app, down from a high of $540,000 in December.
On the American App Store, Sora is no longer ranked in the Top 100 free applications. He currently occupies 101st place. Its highest rank is 7th in the Photo and Video category. On Google Play in the United States, the app fares less well, ranking 181st among the best free apps.
These numbers are still too high to consider the application “dead”, but they are worrying.
This decline is likely due to a number of factors acting in tandem.
To begin with, Google’s Gemini, and in particular its Nano Banana Modelproved to be fierce competition, thus helping its Gemini AI App Gains Popularity. Sora also competes with Meta AI, whose app launched an AI-powered Vibes video, boost your October downloadsjust as Sora took off.
At the same time, OpenAI has struggled to contain copyright violations in Sora. Initially, the company told Hollywood studios and agencies that they would have to opt out of having their IP address used in Sora, which naturally saw the studio backlash. But without strict copyright controls, users were able to create AI videos using popular characters, like SpongeBob and Pikachu, driving adoption. To appease Hollywood and ward off legal threats, Sora moved from an opt-out model to an opt-in model and increased restrictions in the app.
Last month, the doors opened a little more OpenAI announced a deal with Disneywhich allowed users to generate videos in Sora with his characters. But so far, this news has not increased Sora installations or consumer spending. (This is also not necessarily a good idea for Disney, considering that some of the depraved videos Sora users had done with his characters.)
Sora 2 was released with a lot of hype, with some calling it a disturbance to social media and AI TikTok. But many users had no interest in letting others – even their friends – use their image to create AI videos. Without familiar faces and with limits on the use of commercial intellectual property, people’s interest in Sora seems to have faded. It remains to be seen whether the app will be able to make a comeback with more copyright agreements or new features.
