Google closes in on another billion user product with Gemini
Quick Answer
Google's AI assistant Gemini has surged to over 950 million monthly users, tripling in a year and positioning itself to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Quick Take
With features like Daily Brief and Gemini Spark, the app has gained significant traction, especially on iOS, where it has been downloaded over 137 million times in the past year.
Key Points
- Gemini's user base has tripled from last year, reaching 950 million monthly users.
- The app has been downloaded over 137 million times on iOS in the last year.
- Gemini's market share among AI assistants rose to 27.7%, while ChatGPT fell below 50%.
- Google's Q&A-style AI mode also surpassed 1 billion users this quarter.
- The company has reduced AI mode costs through hardware engineering despite new features.
DeepSignal Analysis
What happened
Google's AI assistant Gemini has reportedly reached over 950 million monthly users, marking a significant increase from 750 million earlier this year. The app has gained traction particularly on iOS, with over 137 million downloads in the past year. This growth positions Gemini to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT, which surpassed 1 billion monthly users in June.
Key evidence
- Gemini's user base has tripled from last year, growing from 750 million to over 950 million monthly users as of Q2 2026.
- The Gemini app has been downloaded over 137 million times on iOS in the last 12 months, indicating strong user engagement on that platform.
- According to Sensor Tower's report, Gemini's market share among AI assistants rose to 27.7%, while ChatGPT's fell below 50% for the first time.
Why it matters
The rapid growth of Gemini highlights Google's increasing competitiveness in the AI assistant market, particularly against established players like OpenAI. As more users turn to AI for assistance, the dynamics of user engagement and market share will be crucial for future developments. Additionally, Google's ability to maintain its search vertical while integrating AI features suggests a strategic approach to leveraging AI technology across its services.
📖 Reader Mode
~2 min readGoogle is about to add another name to its long list of products with more than a billion users, a list that already includes Search, Gmail, Drive, Android, YouTube, and Chrome. The company said during its Q2 2026 call that the AI assistant Gemini now has over 950 million monthly users.
The company noted that Gemini users have tripled from last year. Earlier in February, it said that the Gemini app crossed 750 million monthly active users. With this growth, Google’s assistant is in line to compete more closely with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which hit 1 billion monthly active users in June.
“Users love new agentic features like Daily Brief and our personalized agent, Gemini Spark, which is now available in the U.S. and internationally. We’ve been shipping helpful new features like this at an incredible pace,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said during the call.
Apart from users on Android, the Gemini app has found a strong user base on iOS with launches like the Nano Banana image generation model. According to AppFigures, the app has been downloaded over 137 million times on iOS in the last 12 months.
In its latest “State of AI” report, the analytics firm Sensor Tower noted that ChatGPT’s market share among AI assistants fell below 50% for the first time. The report, which looked at H1 2026, also noted that Gemini’s share rose to 27.7%.
Many people already use AI assistant apps as a substitute for search. However, Google reported that its search vertical is going strong, partially thanks to the AI-centric overhaul. During this quarter, its Q&A-style AI mode crossed 1 billion users. The company said that it is driving “an incremental increase” in search queries. Google also noted that through hardware engineering, it has reduced the cost of AI mode for the company, despite introducing new models and features.
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Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.
You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing im@ivanmehta.com or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal.
— Originally published at techcrunch.com
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