Recently, the download numbers for Sora, a video generation app under OpenAI, have dropped significantly. According to Appfigures data, mobile downloads of Sora fell by 45% month-over-month in January, and consumer spending also declined by 32%, dropping to $367,000. This phenomenon has drawn widespread attention in the industry, suggesting that the initial hype around AI applications may be fading.

Sora once topped the Apple App Store downloads in October last year, surpassing ChatGPT and quickly reaching a million downloads. However, just a few months later, this app, which was once highly anticipated, is now facing a crisis of user loss. In December, Sora's downloads had already dropped by 32%, despite the holiday season usually being a peak time for app usage, indicating a significant decline in its appeal.

The reasons behind this situation are closely related to copyright issues. Sora initially faced legal disputes due to users using unlicensed popular IP materials such as Disney, forcing OpenAI to adjust its copyright policies and limit users' creative freedom. On the other hand, increasing competition pressure is also evident, with Google's Gemini launching a new generation of Nano Banana image generation model, quickly attracting user attention, while Meta has also not been left behind, introducing an AI-driven Vibes video feature, making the market competition even more intense.

Although Sora has accumulated 9.6 million downloads and generated $1.4 million in revenue, with the US market contributing most of the income, these achievements seem insufficient to ensure its future in the fierce market competition. Industry analysts had previously predicted that Sora might disrupt social media, but now it seems that this prediction is facing challenges.

To rescue Sora's dilemma, it may be worth considering collaboration with intellectual property holders such as Hollywood to unlock more copyrighted content, or developing new features to rekindle user interest. However, all of this needs to be done quickly before users completely abandon Sora.