Google Gemini and Elon Musk's Grok Are Gaining on ChatGPT – Decrypt

For greater than a 12 months, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been the undisputed heavyweight of client generative AI.

However in keeping with the most recent “Prime 100 Gen AI Shopper Apps” report from enterprise capital large Andreessen Horowitz, which analyzes two-and-a-half years of AI utilization knowledge, the challengers are lastly beginning to shut the hole. Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s Grok are climbing the charts, signaling that rivals are coming for OpenAI’s crown.

That mentioned, the Gen AI ecosystem is displaying indicators of stabilization. The net checklist noticed 11 newcomers in comparison with 17 in March 2025, indicating much less churn. The cell app market, nonetheless, noticed 14 new entries, partly as a result of app shops cracking down on “ChatGPT copycats,” making room for extra unique apps.

The report additionally appears to be considerably at odds with a June SimilarWeb evaluation that confirmed that OpenAI’s GPT was consuming the net, with some 5.5 billion visits a month.

The large takeaways

That could possibly be defined, in fact, by how quickly the AI panorama is shifting. Google has been making important strikes, with 4 merchandise coming into the net checklist for the primary time. Gemini, its basic LLM assistant, now ranks second on the internet, capturing about 12% of ChatGPT’s internet visits.

Different notable Google merchandise embrace AI Studio (developer-oriented, high 10 internet) and NotebookLM (#13 internet), which has seen regular development. On cell, Gemini can also be #2, with sturdy Android utilization (almost 90% of its MAUs).

Whereas ChatGPT nonetheless leads amongst basic LLM assistants, Google, xAI, and Meta are closing the hole.

X’s Grok jumped from no cell app in late 2024 to twenty million MAUs, rating #4 on internet and #23 on cell. This surge was fueled by the discharge of Grok 4—with improved reasoning, real-time search, and power integration—and the introduction of AI companion avatars. Meta AI, nonetheless, has seen extra subdued development, rating #46 on the internet checklist and lacking the cell cutoff. DeepSeek and Claude have seen cell utilization flatten, whereas Perplexity continues to develop.

The AI world, in fact, contains considerably extra customers than those that use the dominant platforms within the west. Chinese language AI apps are gaining important traction globally. Three China-serving firms—Quark (#9 internet, #47 cell), Doubao (#12 internet, #4 cell), and Kimi (#17 internet)—are within the internet high 20, largely as a result of China being the biggest market and restrictions on non-Chinese language LLMs.

Moreover, a considerable portion of the net checklist and 22 of the highest 50 cell apps—particularly in picture/video modifying, with Meitu contributing 5 entries—are developed in China and at the moment are “exported” globally. Chinese language video fashions, particularly, present a bonus, doubtlessly as a result of extra analysis focus and fewer IP rules.

“Vibe coding” platforms are producing sturdy person engagement and income retention. Lovable and Replit debuted on the principle checklist, whereas Bolt, beforehand a newcomer, is now on the “Brink Checklist.” These platforms are additionally boosting site visitors for different AI merchandise and infrastructure suppliers like Supabase.

The report, now in its fifth version, continues to anoint “All-Stars.” Fourteen firms have constantly appeared in all 5 editions of the net high 50, incomes them “All-Star” standing. These embrace basic help (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Poe), companionship (Character AI), picture era (Midjourney, Leonardo), modifying (Veed, Cutout), voice era (Eleven Labs), productiveness (Photoroom, Gamma, Quillbot), and mannequin internet hosting (Civitai, HuggingFace). These All-Stars primarily hail from the U.S., UK, Australia, China, and France.

And at last, to trace momentum on the edges, Andreessen Horowitz now publishes a “Brink Checklist”—the 5 internet and 5 cell apps closest to breaking in. From the earlier cycle, three “almosts” truly made it: Lovable (#22 internet), PolyBuzz, and Pixverse. The message is evident: Right now’s near-misses could be tomorrow’s breakouts.

The underside line

ChatGPT nonetheless leads—however Gemini and Grok’s rise proves the battle is now not one-sided. As Andreessen Horowitz’s high 100 exhibits, the buyer AI ecosystem is rising up, however it hasn’t stopped mutating. The giants could also be closing the hole, however the subsequent large breakout may nonetheless come from the “brink.”