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The End of the AI Honeymoon? ChatGPT Market Share Falls Below 50% for First Time

Sensor Tower said ChatGPT fell to 46.4% by May as Gemini and Claude gained share and users switched among AI assistants.

  • ChatGPT's global market share fell to 46.4% by May's end, marking the first time it dipped below 50% as users migrated to Google's Gemini at 27.7% and Anthropic's Claude at 10.3%, according to Sensor Tower's 2026 report.
  • Despite the decline, ChatGPT remains the most popular AI assistant with over 1.1 billion monthly users, though the competitive landscape is shifting rapidly more than three and a half years after the chatbot's initial release.
  • OpenAI is evolving its monetization strategy beyond subscriptions, serving ads to 17% of daily users by May and sending referral traffic to retailers including Walmart, Target, and Costco through shopping integrations.
  • Specific events like OpenAI's February deal with the Department of Defense triggered measurable uninstalls, indicating brand trust and values alignment significantly influence user retention alongside feature functionality.
  • Sensor Tower estimates hours spent on AI apps will increase from 17.2 billion in 2025 to roughly 36 billion in 2026, with users on pace to spend over $4.2 billion on these platforms this year.
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29 Articles

Lean Right

DECRYPTAGE - OpenAI's chatbot was first placed below the 50% market share mark, challenged by Google and Anthropic.

·Paris, France
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Lean Left

More than three and a half years after the launch of ChatGPT, chatbots and other AI assistants got to be used by millions of people around the world, and the competitive landscape is changing rapidly, shows a new report quoted by TechCrunch. The Gemini chatbot from Google got to have a market share...

·Romania
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Lean Right

ChatGPT's Market Share Falls Below 50% for the First Time; Gemini and Claude Intensify Pursuit. It has been revealed that the global market share of OpenAI's AI model, ChatGPT, has dropped below 50% for the first time. Analysts suggest that users are being dispersed to competing services such as Google's Gemini and Antropic's Claude. (As of the 16th)

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TechCrunch broke the news in United States on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
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