Data from Appfigures shows that Sora recorded 627,000 iOS downloads in its first week, slightly ahead of ChatGPT’s 606,000 during its launch. About 45,000 of Sora’s installations came from Canada, with the rest from the United States. That means even if limited to the U.S. market, Sora would have achieved roughly 96% of ChatGPT’s launch performance.

Confirming the achievement, Bill Peebles, head of Sora at OpenAI, said on X that the app reached a million downloads across platforms in under five days, making it “faster than ChatGPT, despite being invite-only.”

Within days of its release, Sora climbed to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store, overtaking other generative tools such as Anthropic’s Claude, Microsoft’s Copilot, and xAI’s Grok. On its launch day, it recorded 56,000 downloads, peaking at 107,800 on October 1, according to Appfigures.

Despite its restricted rollout, Sora’s viral spread has been impossible to ignore. Across social media platforms, users have flooded timelines with hyper-realistic, AI-generated short videos, some featuring familiar cartoon characters or even recreations of deceased celebrities. This trend has reignited global debates around copyright and digital ethics.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) criticised OpenAI for enabling users to generate videos with copyrighted characters. “Videos that infringe our members’ films, shows, and characters have proliferated on OpenAI’s service,” said Charles Rivkin, CEO of the MPA. 

“OpenAI needs to take immediate and decisive action to address this issue. Well-established copyright law safeguards the rights of creators and applies here.”

Videos featuring figures from SpongeBob SquarePants, Rick and Morty, and South Park have already appeared on Sora, alongside deepfakes of the late actor Robin Williams, prompting his daughter, Zelda Williams, to publicly urge users to stop sharing AI-generated clips of her father.

In response to the issue, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, announced a policy reversal. The company will shift from an opt-out model, which allowed the use of copyrighted material unless rights holders objected, to an opt-in system that gives creators “granular control” over how their intellectual property is used. 

Altman also confirmed that OpenAI plans to share revenue with creators whose licensed content is featured on Sora and may introduce monetisation options for original videos.

Speaking at OpenAI’s DevDay event, Altman acknowledged that Sora’s restrictions have frustrated some users but urged understanding as the company refines its policies. “Please give us some grace,” he said. “The rate of change will be high.”

The company says the update is the next phase of its AI-driven media tools development, allowing users to either create videos from scratch, remix existing ones by altering visuals or styles, or add music to suit personal preferences. 

Once created, these videos can be posted directly to the Vibes feed, sent privately, or cross-shared on Instagram and Facebook as Stories or Reels. Over time, Meta says the feed will become personalised as users engage with different types of AI-generated content.

Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the launch in a post on Instagram where he showcased a series of AI-generated clips, including cartoonish creatures bouncing on cubes, a cat kneading dough, and an ancient Egyptian woman appearing to take a selfie.

But the response in the comments wasn’t enthusiastic. One user wrote, “gang nobody wants this,” while another said, “Bro’s posting ai slop on his own app.” A third comment stated: “I think I speak for everyone when I say: What….?”

The reactions are not surprising. Social platforms are already facing an influx of AI-generated material, usually dismissed by users as low-quality or inauthentic. YouTube, for instance, recently revealed its intent to clamp down on what it called “AI slop.” 

Meta’s decision to launch a feed centred entirely on this type of content appears to contradict its own earlier guidance to creators, where the company urged a focus on “authentic storytelling” rather than generic short videos.

Still, Meta insists Vibes is designed to encourage experimentation. The company has partnered with Midjourney and Black Forest Labs for the early version of the tool, though it says it is continuing to refine its own in-house AI models. “We’re working on even more powerful creation tools and models with a number of talented visual artists and creators,” the company noted.

Meta has recently poured resources into restructuring its AI division, now called Meta Superintelligence Labs, as it tries to keep pace with competitors such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. 

The division has been split into four areas, foundation models, research, product integration, and infrastructure, to accelerate progress after several high-profile staff departures earlier this year.

Vibes was built to become a creative hub, and we hope it becomes that.