New data indicates the growth of ChatGPT is beginning to taper off. According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the OpenAI-owned chatbot remains the current leader, accounting for 50% of global mobile downloads and 55% of global monthly active users. However, Google’s Gemini is now outpacing ChatGPT in key growth metrics, including download growth, growth of monthly active users, and growth of time spent in the app.
This accelerated pace of adoption could help Gemini narrow its gap with ChatGPT over time. OpenAI appears concerned, as indicated by a recent internal “code red” memo from CEO Sam Altman. The memo instructed staff to focus on improving the company’s AI products, with emphasis on areas like personalization, reliability, and image generation.
The race is far from over, as both applications continue to see sizable expansion. ChatGPT’s global monthly active users grew 180% year-over-year as of November 2025, while Gemini’s grew 170%. Yet the recent data reveals a shift. From August to November, ChatGPT’s global monthly active users grew only about 6%, reaching roughly 810 million. This slowdown could suggest the chatbot is nearing market saturation.
In contrast, Google Gemini’s global monthly active users jumped approximately 30% during that same period. This surge was driven by increased adoption following the release of its new image generation model, Nano Banana. The report also noted that about twice as many U.S. Android users now engage with Gemini directly through the Android operating system compared to using the standalone mobile app. This integration could provide Google a competitive advantage in the global market, where Android dominates, by making Gemini accessible beyond a single app or web interface.
Gemini is also increasing its share of the overall AI chatbot market when compared across top apps like ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity, and Grok. Over the past seven months, Gemini increased its share of global monthly active users by an estimated three percentage points. By comparison, ChatGPT’s share dropped three percentage points over the past four months.
Challenges from other rivals are also emerging. Both Perplexity and Claude saw triple-digit growth for their respective chatbots in 2025, with Perplexity up 370% year-over-year and Claude up 190%.
In terms of downloads, ChatGPT saw global growth of 85% year-over-year as of November, but this lagged behind the overall cohort’s average growth of 110%. Perplexity and Gemini saw the largest growth in downloads, up 215% and 190% year-over-year, respectively.
Finally, user engagement time favors Gemini. Sensor Tower data shows Gemini app users’ time spent in the app more than doubled over recent months. By November, users were spending 11 minutes per day in the app, a 120% increase since March, likely due to the popularity of the Nano Banana image model. During that same period, ChatGPT users’ daily time spent increased by only 6%. In fact, time spent on ChatGPT was down 10% in November compared to July.
While the current data suggests Google is catching up to the market leader, much of its recent gain is tied to the success of Nano Banana. OpenAI could reignite its growth with the release of its own impactful new products.