From catch-up to contender: How Gemini is challenging ChatGPT

Jury is still out on who ultimately leads the AI era

- SUDHIR CHOWDHARY

FORTHE FIRST time since generative AI entered the mainstream, the race is no longer a one-horse sprint. Google’s Gemini has caught up with OpenAl’s ChatGPT on distribution, usage, and capability. Even as the gap narrows, however, the jury is still out on who ultimately leads the Al era.

ChatGPT had what every category-defining product dreams of: first-mover advantage, explosive adoption, and near-total mindshare. It didn’t just launch early; it became synonymous with Al itself. But with Gemini 3 and a rapidly expanding user base, Google has shifted the narrative from playing catch-up to posing a genuine challenge.

Powered by models such as Gemini 2.5 Flash (including the Nano Banana image variant) and Pro, that momentum is being fuelled by deep integration across the Google ecosystem - Search, Gmail, and productivity suites — enabling smoother workflows, real-time information access, and stronger contextual relevance.

Gemini’s monthly active users increased by more than 30% between August and November this year, reaching 346 million, according to data from research firm Sensor Tower. It now holds over 50% of India’s download market share. On its third-quarter earnings call, Google placed Gemini’s monthly active users significantly higher, at 650 million. ChatGPT continues to lead in absolute numbers, with 810 million total monthly active users, but its growth over the same period was just 5%.Gemini’s desktop visits doubled during this time, while Chat-GPT’s rose by only 1%. Weekly active users grew 52% for Gemini and 18% for ChatGPT from the beginning of August, the Sensor Tower report found.