Scrunch Labs

Adoption

AI is the next major channel for growth. Everything starts here. If AI usage isn't massive and growing, nothing else matters. These stats set the baseline for why AI search is worth paying attention to at all.

900M+
↑ 125% YoY
Gemini monthly active users

Gemini crossed 900M monthly active users as announced at Google I/O 2026—more than doubling from ~400M a year prior. Growth is driven by deep integration across Google's product suite, the Gemini Advanced subscription, and rapid expansion in mobile markets. Trailing only Meta AI in scale, Gemini is now the second-largest AI platform by active users.

AI platform active users (millions)

Meta AI+1000%
ChatGPT (WAU)+900%
Gemini (MAU)+900%
Perplexity (MAU)+45%
2.5B+
Google AI Overviews monthly active users

Google AI Overviews has scaled to 2.5 billion monthly active users—making it the largest AI-powered feature in the world by user count. Announced by Sundar Pichai at Google I/O 2026, this figure dwarfs standalone AI chatbots. Because AI Overviews is embedded directly into default Google Search, most users encounter it passively—making it the single highest-reach AI channel for brand discovery on the planet.

AI platform active users (millions)

Google AI Overviews (MAU)+2500%
Google AI Mode (MAU)+1000%
ChatGPT (WAU)+900%
Gemini App (MAU)+900%
1B
Google AI Mode monthly active users

Google AI Mode—a dedicated AI-first search experience within Google—surpassed 1 billion monthly active users in its first year. Unlike AI Overviews, which appears passively in standard search, AI Mode is an opt-in, conversation-first interface where users ask multi-step questions and get synthesized answers. Reaching 1B users this fast is one of the fastest consumer product milestones in history and signals that a meaningful share of the global search population is actively choosing an AI-native search experience.

Google AI Mode vs. standalone AI chatbots (millions)

Google AI Mode (MAU)1000.0
ChatGPT (WAU)900.0
Gemini App (MAU)900.0
Perplexity (MAU)45.0
900M
↑ 125% YoY
ChatGPT weekly active users

ChatGPT has become one of the fastest-growing consumer products in history. Reaching 900M weekly active users in early 2026—up from 400M a year prior—it has fundamentally shifted how people search for information, draft content, and make decisions. No channel has grown this fast since social media.

AI platform active users (millions)

ChatGPT (WAU)+900%
Gemini (MAU)+900%
Perplexity (MAU)+45%
2.5B
ChatGPT prompts processed per day

ChatGPT's daily prompt volume more than doubled in just 8 months—from 1 billion in December 2024 to 2.5 billion by mid-2025. 330 million of those come from U.S. users alone. For context, Google processes ~14 billion daily searches. AI isn't replacing search yet—but at this growth rate, the gap is narrowing fast.

Daily queries: AI vs. traditional search (billions)

Google Search14.0
ChatGPT2.5
16.3%
Global internet users who use generative AI monthly

More than 1 billion people now use large language models and generative AI tools every month—representing 16.3% of all internet users. Nearly half of online adults report feeling excited about AI. Outside China, ChatGPT accounts for roughly 80% of LLM usage, making platform concentration a real risk for brands not yet optimizing for AI visibility.

Global internet users—AI adoption

Use gen AI monthly16.3%
Not yet adopting83.7%
45M
↑ 100% YoY
Perplexity monthly active users

Perplexity has doubled its user base year over year to reach 45M monthly active users, establishing itself as the leading AI-native search engine. Unlike ChatGPT, Perplexity is built specifically for search with real-time web citations—making it a distinct channel for brand discovery that operates outside traditional SEO entirely.

Perplexity monthly active users (millions)

2024+22.5%
2025+45%
64–68%
↓ from 87%
ChatGPT's AI query market share

Despite its massive user base, ChatGPT's share of the AI query market has dropped significantly—from 87% to 64–68%—as Gemini, Perplexity, and others capture meaningful share. The AI search market is consolidating but remains competitive, and brands need presence across multiple platforms.

AI query market share

ChatGPT66%
Gemini20%
Perplexity8%
Other6%
$380B
↑ 14x ARR in 14 months
Anthropic valuation

Anthropic closed a $40B funding round at a $380B valuation—one of the largest in private tech history. The 14x ARR growth in 14 months reflects enterprise adoption of Claude accelerating rapidly. This level of capital signals that the AI infrastructure race is far from over, and competition across all major platforms will intensify.

AI company valuations, 2026 (billions USD)

Anthropic+380%
OpenAI+300%
xAI+50%
Perplexity+14%

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