The consumer market for AI assistants is becoming more competitive, with Anthropic’s Claude and Alphabet’s Gemini gaining users while OpenAI’s ChatGPT loses share on mobile, according to an analysis by BNP Paribas SA reported on April 14.
The bank’s data shows that Claude more than doubled its number of daily active users within a single month, a pace that stands out even in a fast-growing category. Gemini, meanwhile, has continued to expand, helped by its integration into Google Workspace products such as Gmail and Docs, which the analysis credits with driving billions of web visits.
ChatGPT’s mobile share falls
The clearest sign of the shift is in mobile usage. According to the BNP Paribas figures, ChatGPT’s share of mobile AI assistant usage dropped from roughly 69 percent to about 45 percent over the past year. ChatGPT remains the largest single product in the category, but the decline suggests that rivals are converting curiosity into regular use.
App analytics firms have pointed in the same direction. TechCrunch reported in March that Claude’s consumer app had climbed the app store charts and was adding downloads at a faster rate than before, and Forbes Australia reported that ChatGPT’s download growth had slowed as Claude’s accelerated. These trackers measure installs and visits rather than revenue, so they describe attention rather than spending.
Why Gemini and Claude are growing
The two challengers appear to be growing for different reasons. Gemini benefits from distribution: it is built into products that hundreds of millions of people already use for email, documents and search, which lowers the barrier to trying it. Claude’s growth has been attributed by analysts to its reputation among developers and professional users, particularly for coding and long-document work, which has gradually spilled over into the consumer app.
For OpenAI, the figures do not indicate a collapse. ChatGPT still accounts for close to half of mobile AI usage by this measure, and OpenAI has continued to report rising paid subscriptions. But the company no longer has the near-monopoly on consumer attention it enjoyed in 2023 and 2024.
A multi-player market
The BNP Paribas analysis reflects a broader view among investors that the AI assistant market is settling into a contest among several large platforms rather than consolidating around one. Each of the three leading products now has a distinct strength: distribution for Google, developer and enterprise credibility for Anthropic, and brand recognition and a large installed base for OpenAI.
For users, the practical effect is more choice and faster iteration, as each company responds to the others’ feature releases. For the companies, it means the cost of acquiring and keeping users is likely to rise as the easy early growth gives way to a fight for share.
