sora copycats flooded apple’s app store, and some still remain

The Surge of Sora and Subsequent App Store Scams

The quick popularity of Sora triggered a wave of fraudulent activity within the App Store. Following the release of OpenAI’s initially invite-only, video creation mobile application last week, Apple’s App Store experienced an influx of deceptive applications claiming to be “Sora” or “Sora 2”. The latter designation references the advanced AI video model introduced concurrently with the mobile app.

Bypassing Apple’s Review Process

Surprisingly, these applications managed to circumvent Apple’s App Review process. Despite utilizing a trademarked brand name belonging to OpenAI, and being relatively well-known within the technology sector even before the app’s introduction, they were publicly listed on the App Store.

Appfigures Research Reveals the Scale of the Problem

According to data provided to TechCrunch by the app intelligence platform, Appfigures, more than twelve applications branded with “Sora” became available on the App Store after the official app’s launch. A significant portion, exceeding 50%, specifically incorporated “Sora 2” into their names.

This issue was initially highlighted by Apple blogger and commentator John Gruber, who identified one such app as the “App Store scam of the week.”

Established Apps Participating in the Deception

Notably, many of these fraudulent apps were not newly created. Some had been present on the App Store – occasionally under different names – for months, or even a year. These impostors, also found on Google Play, have collectively amassed approximately 300,000 installations to date.

Over 80,000 of these installations occurred following the launch of Sora’s official application. (For context, OpenAI has reported that the official Sora mobile app has been downloaded 1 million times.)

Capitalizing on Demand Through Name Changes

Almost all of the deceptive applications were updated shortly after the release of OpenAI’s Sora app. This was done to exploit consumer demand and search queries, frequently achieved by altering the app’s name.

Apple’s Response and Remaining Issues

The means by which these apps bypassed Apple’s review system remains unclear. However, Apple ultimately removed many of them from its App Store, as reported by Appfigures.

Notable Impostor Applications

The largest of the imposter apps, titled “Sora 2 – AI Video Generator”, was a clear attempt to exploit App Store searches for the keyword “sora”. It garnered over 50,000 installations after the official app’s launch.

As of this writing, a few Sora-branded apps remain available, despite the potential for consumer confusion. “PetReels — Sora for Pets” has only received a few hundred installations.

Another app, “Viral AI Photo Maker: Vi-sora”, attempts to include the term “Sora” but has not gained significant traction.

The app utilizing the branding “Sora 2” (Sora 2 – Video Generator Ai) is performing somewhat better, having accumulated over 6,000 downloads and continuing to grow.

Financial Gains from Deceptive Practices

In total, these fraudulent applications generated more than $160,000 in revenue – a substantial sum considering their limited lifespan.

Apple’s Lack of Comment

Apple was contacted for a statement regarding how Sora-branded apps were permitted to go live and whether the remaining apps would be removed. A response was not received before publication.