ChatGPT and Gemini both hit 1B users, race tightens

The AI chatbot race just hit a historic milestone: both OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini have passed 1 billion monthly users. OpenAI confirmed in an August 6 blog post that "more than 1 billion people are putting ChatGPT to work," though external data suggested the threshold was crossed as early as June. Spokesperson Lindsay McCallum said ChatGPT crossed 1 billion monthly users "some time ago" and hit 1 billion weekly active users in July. However, growth is slowing—ChatGPT had 900 million weekly active users in February, meaning the 100 million gain took five months, a sharp contrast to its earlier explosive trajectory.

Google's Gemini reached the milestone last week, with CEO Sundar Pichai announcing that a billion people use the chatbot monthly, making it Google's fastest-growing product ever. Internal data shows Gemini jumped from 750 million monthly users in February to 950 million in late July before crossing 1 billion. Notably, 100 million Gemini users are on iOS, implying the vast majority are Android users preinstalled with the app. Anthropic's Claude remains a smaller player, with estimates in the tens of millions and no official disclosure. The race for user count is now over—both companies shift focus to monetization and deeper integration, with Google weaving Gemini into Android and OpenAI exploring custom hardware.