AI fans have gone bananas over Google's new image generator, known as Nano Banana.
The image generation app has helped Gemini dethrone OpenAI's ChatGPT as the most popular free app for iPhone users. On Monday, the Gemini iOS app was the No. 1 free app in the Apple App Store, marking an important milestone for Google in a heated AI race.
Screenshot of the Apple app store charts taken on Monday, Sept. 15.
Screenshot by Katelyn Chedraoui/CNETGemini has gotten a lot of updates over the past few months. Most recently and notably, Google dropped its AI image model, officially named 2.5 Flash Image, or Nano Banana. Gemini users were wowed by the model's ability to edit photos. During my testing, I found that Gemini was incredibly good at adding new elements to photos and blending them in seamlessly.
In the weeks following the release of Nano Banana, Gemini users made more than 200 million AI images, and the Gemini app saw more than 10 million new sign-ups, according to Josh Woodward, vice president of Gemini and Google Labs. That likely helped launch the iOS app to first place on Saturday and maintain its position there this week.
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These Apple App Store rankings change regularly, and Gemini may not stay in the top spot for long. But what this does tell us is that Google's standalone AI products are catching consumer interest.
Google's AI has been incorporated into nearly every part of its business, from Search's AI overviews to Gmail summaries and features in its Pixel smartphones. For the most part, we've had no choice in using Google's AI in those places. But the rising popularity of the Gemini app on its own shows that people want to download and use it regardless. If that trend continues, it could threaten the current industry leader, ChatGPT, in the AI race to grab as many users as possible.
For more, check out how to take advantage of Google's NotebookLM and the best AI image generators.