Google’s Gemini, fueled by the launch of Gemini 3 and the viral Nano Banana feature, is rapidly gaining ground on OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
For the first time since generative AI entered the mainstream, the race is no longer a one-horse sprint. Google’s Gemini has caught up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT on distribution, usage, and capability. Even as the gap narrows, however, the jury is still out on who ultimately leads the AI era.
ChatGPT had what every category-defining product dreams of: first-mover advantage, explosive adoption, and near-total mindshare. It didn’t just launch early; it became synonymous with AI itself. But with Gemini 3 and a rapidly expanding user base, Google has shifted the narrative from playing catch-up to posing a genuine challenge.
Powered by models such as Gemini 2.5 Flash (including the Nano Banana image variant) and Pro, that momentum is being fuelled by deep integration across the Google ecosystem – Search, Gmail, and productivity suites – enabling smoother workflows, real-time information access, and stronger contextual relevance.
Gemini’s monthly active users increased by more than 30% between August and November this year, reaching 346 million, according to data from research firm Sensor Tower. It now holds over 50% of India’s download market share. On its third-quarter earnings call, Google placed Gemini’s monthly active users significantly higher, at 650 million.
ChatGPT continues to lead in absolute numbers, with 810 million total monthly active users, but its growth over the same period was just 5%. Gemini’s desktop visits doubled during this time, while ChatGPT’s rose by only 1%. Weekly active users grew 52% for Gemini and 18% for ChatGPT from the beginning of August, the Sensor Tower report found.
Features such as the viral image generator Nano Banana, along with the launch of Gemini 3, have accelerated adoption. At the beginning of 2025, Gemini had fewer than 100 million weekly active users, compared to well over 200 million for ChatGPT, a gap that has since narrowed sharply.
