ChatGPT has lost its dominant position in the AI assistant market for the first time. The application's market share dropped below 50 percent at the end of May 2026. It now holds a 46.4 percent share of the sector. This shift marks a significant change in the competitive landscape for generative AI tools.
OpenAI app drops to 46.4% share while Gemini and Claude rise in rankings
Google Gemini has moved into second place with a 27.7 percent market share. Anthropic's Claude sits in third place with 10.3 percent of the market. These rankings reflect the growing fragmentation of the AI assistant industry. Users now have more viable alternatives to OpenAI's flagship product.
ChatGPT still leads in total user volume with over 1.1 billion monthly active users. Gemini follows with 662 million monthly users. Claude has 245 million monthly users. The gap in user numbers remains large despite the decline in market share percentage.
OpenAI faced a notable surge in app uninstalls after its February 2026 partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. This event likely contributed to the recent decline in market share. Broader trends show that AI application downloads and spending are maturing. The first half of 2026 indicates a slowdown in growth for the sector.
Sensor Tower data confirms the current market share rankings. TechCrunch reported the findings based on this data. The drop below 50 percent is a historic milestone for ChatGPT. The app remains the most used AI tool by user count.
Source: NotebookCheck
