Sora's rapid adoption has prompted many App Store scammers to try to join in on the action. Following last week's launch of OpenAI's invite-only video-generating mobile app, the Apple App Store was flooded with fakes that also claimed to be “Sora” or “Sora 2” – the latter of which was a reference to the new AI video model that was released alongside the mobile app.
These apps have somehow passed Apple's app review process. In fact, they had public offerings on the App Store, even though they used a brand name that was trademarked by OpenAI and quite well-known in the tech industry even before the app debuted.
According to research provided to TechCrunch at our request by the Application Intelligence Platform ApplicationsAfter the premiere of the official application, several applications under the “Sora” brand appeared in the App Store. More than half of them used “Sora 2” in their names. (One of they were noticed Blogger and Apple expert John Gruber, who called it “App Store Scam of the Week”).
Many of the apps weren't new either. Some of them have been available in the App Store – sometimes under different names – since the beginning of this year and even since last year. Fraudsters, which also include those operating on Google Play, have recorded approximately 300,000 collective installs so far, of which north of 80,000 took place after the official launch of the Sora app. (OpenAI announced that, by comparison, Sora's official mobile app has been downloaded one million times).
Almost all scammers updated as soon as the Sora OpenAI app launched to capitalize on consumer demand and searches, often changing their name.
It's unclear how these apps were able to slip past Apple reviewers; Apple has actually pulled many of them from its App Store, according to Appfigures.
Of the fake apps, the largest was called “Sora 2 – AI Video Generator” and was an obvious attempt to trick searches for the “sora” keyword in the App Store. After the launch of the official app, over 50,000 installations were recorded.
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As of this writing, several Sora-branded apps are still available, despite the potential for consumer confusion. However, one of them, “PetReels – Sora for Pets”, had only a few hundred installations. Another one, “Viral AI Photo Maker: Vi-sora”, tries to squeeze the word Sora in there, but it also failed to gain traction.
The application using the “Sora 2” branding in its name (Sora 2 – Video Generator Ai) does slightly better. The number of downloads has exceeded 6,000 and the number is still growing.
In total, the apps have earned over $160,000 – decent money considering their short lives.
Apple was asked for comment on how Sora-branded apps may have been made available and whether the remaining Sora-branded apps would be removed. He did not respond before publication.
