Overview
- Sensor Tower’s State of AI 2026 shows ChatGPT reached one billion monthly users in May 2026 while its True Audience market share dropped below 50% in March 2026 as Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude gained users.
- User trust events helped drive switching: OpenAI’s February deal with the U.S. Department of Defense coincided with a sharp spike in ChatGPT uninstalls in March and a temporary rise in downloads for Claude.
- Anthropic’s Claude now leads on per‑user monetization in the U.S., with mobile ARPU rising to about $2.76 in May 2026 and roughly 13% of its users paying for subscriptions compared with lower conversion rates at rival apps.
- Gemini’s growth is distribution driven through Google’s ecosystem, and overall engagement and spending are surging industrywide with Sensor Tower projecting roughly 36 billion hours spent on generative AI apps and over $4 billion in in‑app revenue in H1 2026.
- The market is concentrating at the top — the three leading assistants account for about 89% of assistant time spent — which raises the stakes for future moves on pricing, platform integration, and trust that will shape who captures long‑term consumer dollars and attention.