The Sora app’s viral success has sparked a flood of copycats across Apple’s App Store and surprisingly, some of them are still live.
After OpenAI launched its invite-only Sora app last week, scammers rushed to release fake versions branded as “Sora” or “Sora 2,” hoping to ride on the hype of the new AI video generator. The real Sora combines OpenAI’s cutting-edge video technology with a sleek mobile interface, but the fakes offered nothing close.
Despite Apple’s strict app review process, several impostors slipped through and appeared publicly on the App Store. They used OpenAI’s trademarked name “Sora,” which had already gained huge recognition before the app’s official debut.
App analytics platform Appfigures reported that more than a dozen fake “Sora” apps went live soon after the genuine app launched. Over half used “Sora 2” in their names, trying to trick users searching for the real thing.
Apple pundit John Gruber even called one version the “App Store scam of the week.”
Many of these fakes weren’t brand-new, either. Some had existed for months under different names, only to rebrand once the Sora app started trending.
According to Appfigures, the impostors, including similar clones on Google Play, have been downloaded roughly 300,000 times, with 80,000 installs coming after OpenAI’s official launch. In contrast, the real Sora app has already surpassed one million downloads.
Apple has since removed most of the fake Sora apps, but a few still remain. One called “PetReels — Sora for Pets” has seen only a few hundred downloads, while another, “Viral AI Photo Maker: Vi-sora,” appears to be attempting a keyword play without much success.
One of the more successful impostors, “Sora 2 – AI Video Generator,” reached over 50,000 downloads before removal. Another version, “Sora 2 – Video Generator AI,” continues to attract users, with more than 6,000 installs so far.
Collectively, these fake apps have generated over $160,000 in revenue, a substantial sum given their short time online.
Apple has not commented on how these apps bypassed its review system or whether the remaining Sora-branded fakes will be taken down.
