Google's Gemini Nears 1 Billion Monthly Users, Closing In on ChatGPT

Google has revealed that its Gemini AI assistant app now has more than 950 million monthly users, and that daily active users have roughly tripled over the past year. That puts it within striking distance of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which crossed 1 billion monthly users this year. Behind the surge are new features such as Gemini Spark, an always-on personal agent, and Daily Brief, which organizes your morning. With this momentum, Gemini is on track to join Google's roster of billion-user products alongside Search, Gmail, Android, and YouTube.

950 million monthly users, daily actives roughly tripled

Alongside its latest quarterly update, Google announced that the Gemini app has surpassed 950 million monthly users, and said its daily active users are about three times what they were a year ago. Back in February 2026 the company had put the monthly figure at more than 750 million, so it has added roughly 200 million in about five months, standing out even among fast-growing generative AI apps.

Google already counts many services with more than a billion monthly users, including Search, Gmail, Drive, Android, YouTube, and Chrome. If Gemini reaches that level, it would become another flagship service for the company.

The gap with ChatGPT: about 50 million users

The benchmark is OpenAI's ChatGPT, which got there first. ChatGPT reached 1 billion monthly users in June 2026, leaving a gap of only about 50 million against Gemini's 950 million. On paper, Gemini is now within reach of the 1 billion milestone.

The broader competitive picture is shifting too. According to the analytics firm Sensor Tower's "State of AI" report, ChatGPT's share of the AI assistant market fell below 50 percent for the first time in the first half of 2026, while Gemini's share rose to 27.7 percent, narrowing the gap between the two leaders.

Spark and Daily Brief drive the growth

Fueling the growth is a steady stream of new features. CEO Sundar Pichai said users love additions like the Daily Brief morning digest and the personal agent Gemini Spark, and that the company has been shipping such features at a rapid pace.

Gemini Spark, unveiled at Google I/O 2026, is a 24/7 personal agent. Because it runs in a dedicated cloud environment, it can keep working in the background even while your phone is locked, and it is now available in the U.S. and other countries. Daily Brief pulls together information from your inbox, calendar, and key tasks and lays out the essentials at the start of the day. Rather than a simple collection of information, it prioritizes items according to your goals.

Strong on iOS too, powered by "Nano Banana"

Gemini is steadily expanding not only on Android but on iOS as well. Attention-grabbing features like the "Nano Banana" image generation model have helped draw in new users. According to the app analytics firm Appfigures, the Gemini app has been downloaded more than 137 million times on iOS over the past 12 months, building a solid presence among iPhone users.

Search "AI Mode" also tops 1 billion

Even as more people use AI assistants as a substitute for search, Google says its core search business is doing well. The company's question-and-answer "AI Mode" crossed 1 billion monthly users this quarter. Google says search usage itself is seeing "an incremental increase," arguing that its AI overhaul is boosting the number of queries rather than driving people away. It also said that hardware engineering has lowered the cost of AI Mode, signaling an effort to stay profitable even while rolling out new models and features.

Summary

Google announced that Gemini's monthly users have passed 950 million, with daily active users roughly tripling in a year. The gap with ChatGPT's 1 billion has narrowed to around 50 million, and the two leaders are closing in on each other in market share as well. Driving the growth are new features such as the always-on Gemini Spark agent, the Daily Brief morning digest, and the Nano Banana image generator. With search "AI Mode" also topping 1 billion users, the update shows Google making steady progress in expanding its user base around AI.