Google’s Gemini continues to close in on OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with new Sensor Tower data revealing that Gemini is outperforming ChatGPT across multiple growth metrics, including global downloads, monthly active users (MAUs), and time spent on the app.
This comes just days after Sam Altman reportedly declared a ‘code red’ following the strong debut of Gemini 3. Despite ChatGPT still leading the overall market with 50 percent of global mobile downloads and 55 per cent of worldwide MAUs, its growth between August and November has slowed-rising only around six per cent to reach nearly 810 million global MAUs.
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During the same period, Gemini recorded a 30 per cent surge in global MAUs, driven largely by the popularity of its new AI image generator, Nano Banana. Sensor Tower’s tracking shows that Google is rapidly catching up, especially as OpenAI delays ad monetisation to focus on a new AI model codenamed ‘Garlic’, expected to outperform Gemini 3 in coding and reasoning tasks.
Sam Altman to prioritise improvements
An internal memo accessed by The Information shows Sam Altman urging teams to prioritise improvements in areas like personalisation, reliability, and image generation. Meanwhile, Google leverages its distribution power: Gemini 3 was integrated directly into both Chrome and Google Search on day one, giving the model instant reach.
In the US, twice as many users access Gemini directly through Android compared to the standalone app — a trend likely amplified in India, where Android dominates the smartphone market.
Analysts say Google’s strong ecosystem gives it an advantage. As Jeffrey Wlodarczak told CNBC, “Google appears to be the best positioned of its peers to monetise AI investment internally and externally,” noting the strength of search in powering Gemini’s growth.
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As of November 2025, ChatGPT’s global MAU is up 180 per cent year-over-year, while Gemini is up 170 per cent. From May to November 2025, Gemini gained three percentage points in global MAU share, while ChatGPT lost three. Other players like Perplexity and Claude have also seen sharp YoY gains-370 per cent and 190 per cent respectively.
In global downloads, Gemini grew 190 per cent YoY compared to ChatGPT’s 85 per cent, with Perplexity leading the category at 215 per cent. User engagement also shows a contrast: Gemini users now spend 11 minutes daily on the app- a 120 per cent jump since March, boosted by Nano Banana. ChatGPT’s daily usage climbed only six per cent in the same period.
