Google’s Gemini chatbot is rapidly gaining ground on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to new data from research firm Sensor Tower, reported by The Information on Tuesday.
Gemini saw a sharp increase in mobile app downloads in late November after launching version 3. The platform also doubled its global website traffic between August and November. During the same period, ChatGPT’s website traffic grew by only 1%.
Monthly active user numbers highlight the shift even more. Gemini grew around 30% to reach 346 million users, while ChatGPT increased about 5% to 810 million. This rising competition reportedly contributed to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issuing an internal “code red” last week, as covered by several media outlets.
Google’s AI ecosystem also extends far beyond the Gemini app. In July, CEO Sundar Pichai said more than 2 billion people see AI-generated search answers every month. By November, the standalone Gemini app surpassed 650 million monthly active users. Google Search’s AI Mode now has more than 75 million daily users worldwide.
Despite Gemini’s rapid progress, ChatGPT still leads the market. The Information reports that ChatGPT has nearly 900 million weekly active users. Its largest user bases are in the United States, India, Brazil, Japan, and France.
Usage patterns also favor ChatGPT. Users spent an average of 17 minutes per day in the app last month—an increase of 6% since March—across eight daily sessions. Gemini users spent roughly 11 minutes per day, up 120% since March, across six sessions. This figure does not include voice assistant usage on Android devices.
