Google's Gemini AI Assistant Is Closing In on One Billion Users
The app hit 950 million monthly users in Q2 2026, tripling its audience in a year, and is now directly chasing ChatGPT's lead.
Key points
- Google's Gemini AI assistant reached 950 million monthly active users as of Q2 2026.
- That figure has tripled compared to the same period in 2025.
- ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, crossed 1 billion monthly active users in June 2026.
- Gemini's share of the AI assistant market rose to 27.7% in the first half of 2026, per analytics firm Sensor Tower.
- Google's AI Mode in Search separately crossed 1 billion users this quarter.
Google is on the verge of adding Gemini, its AI assistant (an AI assistant is a chatbot you can ask questions, get summaries from, and hand tasks to), to its elite club of billion-user products. That club already includes Search, Gmail, YouTube and Chrome. During its Q2 2026 earnings call, Google's parent company Alphabet confirmed Gemini now has 950 million monthly active users.
For context: back in February 2026, Gemini had 750 million monthly users. A year before that, the number was roughly a third of today's figure. That is unusually fast growth for any app, let alone one competing in a crowded field.
How does Gemini stack up against ChatGPT?
ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, reached 1 billion monthly active users in June 2026, so it still leads. But Gemini is catching up fast. Analytics firm Sensor Tower reported that ChatGPT's share of the AI assistant market fell below 50% for the first time in the first half of 2026. Gemini's share climbed to 27.7% over the same period.
| Product | Monthly active users | Period |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | 1 billion | June 2026 |
| Gemini (Google) | 950 million | Q2 2026 |
| Gemini (Google) | 750 million | February 2026 |
| Gemini's market share | 27.7% | H1 2026 |
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai credited features like Daily Brief and Gemini Spark, a personalised AI agent (software that can carry out multi-step tasks on its own, like planning your week or summarising emails), which is now live in the US and internationally. On iPhone, the app has been downloaded over 137 million times in the last 12 months alone, according to app intelligence firm AppFigures.
Does this mean Google Search is fading?
Not according to Google's own numbers. Despite many people now using AI assistants instead of traditional search, Google says its Search business is holding up well. Its AI Mode, a question-and-answer style version of Google Search powered by AI, crossed 1 billion users this quarter too. The company says AI Mode is actually driving more search queries, not fewer.
Google also said it has cut the internal cost of running AI Mode through hardware improvements, even while rolling out new features. That matters because AI tools are expensive to run, and keeping costs down is how companies make the business work long-term.
First reported by TechCrunch AI, the overall picture is one of two AI assistants pulling ahead of the rest of the field, with the gap between them shrinking by the month.
