AI apps like ChatGPT and Gemini aren't just trending – they're a billion-dollar industry in 2024
Did someone say AI? Get ready because you'll be seeing these two letters a lot in the next few paragraphs. It's no secret that artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a major force for tech companies, and it's already making waves in the mobile world.
Just look at recent phone releases – the Google Pixel 9 series, Apple's iPhone 16 series, and the new Samsung Galaxy S25 series – all of them have been heavily focused on AI. And honestly, that's not going to change anytime soon, considering AI apps are already a billion-dollar industry.
Generative AI has been a huge driver behind the surge in consumer spending on apps, which hit a global total of $150 billion in 2024, marking a 13% increase from the previous year, according to the latest State of Mobile report.
Spending on AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, and ByteDance's Doubao has skyrocketed, jumping from $455 million in 2023 to almost $1.3 billion into this category in 2024.
By the close of 2024, some of the biggest names in tech – Google with Gemini, ByteDance with Doubao, and Microsoft with Copilot – had rolled out their own AI chatbots. This sparked a massive 119% year-over-year jump in AI chatbot downloads in Q4 2024. AI art generators followed closely behind, hitting 85 million downloads, marking a 21% increase from the year before.
In 2024, the United States dominated the market for Generative AI apps, raking in 45% of global revenue. The United Kingdom comes in second, contributing about 4% of the total, with Germany, Japan, and Canada each claiming 3% of the share.
AI isn't just taking over chatbots and art generators anymore – it's spreading across all kinds of apps. In the last two years, 15 app categories have added AI-related terms to their names or descriptions. This includes popular areas like Productivity, Photo & Video, and Education but also stretches into unexpected categories like Lifestyle, Finance, Music, and Shopping.
Moreover, while new AI models like GPT-4o sparked some big revenue jumps, demand for AI apps remained steady all year. In total, consumers spent almost 7.7 billion hours on AI apps in 2024, and apps with AI in the title saw 17 billion downloads.
Overall, it seems people are getting more comfortable with AI. While I'm not the biggest fan and think some of these AI features are a bit unnecessary, I can't deny that some are genuinely useful and fun. In the end, a lot of people now view AI as essential for daily or occasional use, and the numbers definitely show that. What about you? Do you use any AI apps?
Just look at recent phone releases – the Google Pixel 9 series, Apple's iPhone 16 series, and the new Samsung Galaxy S25 series – all of them have been heavily focused on AI. And honestly, that's not going to change anytime soon, considering AI apps are already a billion-dollar industry.
Spending on AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, and ByteDance's Doubao has skyrocketed, jumping from $455 million in 2023 to almost $1.3 billion into this category in 2024.
Still, ChatGPT holds the top spot, commanding roughly 40% of global consumer spending on generative AI apps and snagging 23% of all downloads in 2024.
In 2024, the United States dominated the market for Generative AI apps, raking in 45% of global revenue. The United Kingdom comes in second, contributing about 4% of the total, with Germany, Japan, and Canada each claiming 3% of the share.
AI isn't just taking over chatbots and art generators anymore – it's spreading across all kinds of apps. In the last two years, 15 app categories have added AI-related terms to their names or descriptions. This includes popular areas like Productivity, Photo & Video, and Education but also stretches into unexpected categories like Lifestyle, Finance, Music, and Shopping.
Moreover, while new AI models like GPT-4o sparked some big revenue jumps, demand for AI apps remained steady all year. In total, consumers spent almost 7.7 billion hours on AI apps in 2024, and apps with AI in the title saw 17 billion downloads.
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