ChatGPT’s user growth has slowed, report finds

Summary

ChatGPT’s growth is starting to taper off, according to new data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Today, the OpenAI-owned AI chatbot remains the leader in the space, accounting for 50% of global downloads on mobile devices and 55% of the global monthly active users. However, Google’s Gemini has begun to outpace ChatGPT in terms of download growth, growth of monthly active users, and growth of time spent in app, the firm found. Over time, that increased pace of adoption could help Gemini narrow the gap with ChatGPT. That’s something OpenAI is now worried about, as its recent “code red” memo indicated. The missive, penned by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, instructed staff to focus on improving the company’s AI products, particularly in areas like personalization, reliability, image generation, and more. When looking at the recent data, it’s clear the race is not over yet: both ChatGPT and Gemini continue to see sizable growth. ChatGPT has seen its global monthly active users climb by 180% year-over-year as of November 2025, while Gemini’s monthly active users are up 170%. Image Credits:Sensor Tower But the new data indicates that ChatGPT’s global monthly active users only grew by around 6% from August to November, to reach roughly 810 million. (The monthly active user numbers in the above chart are rounded, the firm notes.) This figure could suggest the AI chatbot is nearing market saturation, Sensor Tower says. Meanwhile, Google’s Gemini’s global monthly active users jumped by around 30% during the same time frame, as the release of its new image generation model, Nano Banana, drove increased adoption. In addition, the report noted that around 2 times more U.S. Android users now engage with Gemini directly through the Android operating system compared with using the standalone Gemini mobile app. This could provide Google with a competitive advantage in the global market, where Android dominates, as it means Gemini isn’t constrained to only being used within a mobi...