Back in March, OpenAI abruptly pulled the plug on its Sora video app. Two months later, a pair of AI video generation apps is competing for the top of the App Store.

Sora was hardly the only AI video generation technology

OpenAI discontinued Sora largely due to the cost of running the AI video generation service.

The service was resource-hungry and free for users. Instead, OpenAI is focusing on ChatGPT and Codex for enhancing productivity. Codex in particular works best with paid plans.

With Sora out of the way, competing AI apps highlighted video generation features.

For example, both Gemini and Grok support turning text prompts and images into AI-generated video.

But AI video generation is just one feature within these general AI chatbot apps.

More recently, two apps dedicated to AI video generation have climbed App Store charts.

Two seemingly random AI video creation apps are climbing App Store charts

The first is Kling AI. It’s been on the App Store for three months, and this week it’s ranked #5 on the App Store’s Top Downloaded free apps chart.

Kling AI also benefits from being the #1 app in the Graphics & Design category.

The second is just called AI Video from developer HUBX, which has 15 AI-focused apps on the App Store. The app ranks #6 and specifically targets users wanting to create viral AI videos.

HUBX’s AI Video app currently takes the #1 spot in the App Store’s Photo & Video category.

For now, the only apps ahead of these are from major firms: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta.

Sora, of course, placed at the top of the App Store when it was first introduced. But the app didn’t perform well after a few months.

This pair of apps seems to be benefitting from a new moment where AI video generation is catching iPhone user attention. Whether it’s a fresh fad or a lasting trend remains to be seen.