Google and Grok are catching up to ChatGPT, says a16z’s latest AI report

A recent report from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz reveals that several competitors, including Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok, are increasingly encroaching on ChatGPT’s dominance in the AI chatbot space. This fifth edition of their consumer AI landscape report offers a comprehensive look at two and a half years of data reflecting how users are integrating AI products into their daily lives. The report identifies 14 standout companies in the AI sector, which include ChatGPT, Perplexity, Poe, Character AI, and Midjourney, among others. These companies illustrate the diverse applications of AI, ranging from assistance and companionship to image and video editing, voice generation, and productivity tools. Additionally, five other companies have consistently appeared in the rankings, showcasing advancements in general AI use and music generation. For the first time, Google has significantly improved its standing, with Gemini, AI Studio, NotebookLM, and Google Labs all ranking among the top generative AI web products. Each of these tools now features distinct domains for easier tracking of their individual growth trajectories. According to the report, Gemini ranks as the second most popular mobile app, closely trailing ChatGPT, although it currently has nearly half the monthly active users of ChatGPT. Notably, Gemini enjoys a strong presence on Android devices, making up almost 90% of its user base. On the web, Gemini again secured the second position, capturing about 12% of the traffic that ChatGPT receives. Google’s AI Studio, designed for developers working with Gemini models, made its debut in the top 10, while NotebookLM followed closely behind. Google Labs, which showcases various AI experiments, placed at No. 39. In this competitive landscape, Grok is also making strides, ranking fourth on the web and climbing to No. 23 on mobile. This rapid ascent is remarkable, as Grok transitioned from a non-existent standalone app in late 2024 to over 20 million monthly active users today, particularly after the launch of Grok 4 in July 2025. Meanwhile, Meta AI’s general assistant has not seen similar success, remaining stagnant at No. 46 on the web and failing to make the mobile list, partly due to user privacy concerns. Other AI applications such as DeepSeek and Claude have experienced stagnation in growth, with DeepSeek witnessing a significant decline. However, Perplexity and Claude continue to expand their user bases. Notably, several Chinese AI firms have also entered the top 20, demonstrating the global reach of AI technology, with many companies seeing substantial traffic from within China. The report highlights that the latest mobile app rankings feature a surge of new entrants, with 14 fresh applications making their debut. This shift is attributed to stricter regulations in app stores against imitations of ChatGPT, providing more opportunities for innovative AI solutions to emerge.