The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications has seen a remarkable surge, with downloads soaring to 1.5 billion in 2024, up from 800 million in 2023, according to a report by SensorTower. The report, titled “The State of Mobile 2024,” highlights the rapid expansion of AI-driven applications, noting that apps incorporating AI-related terms in their names, subtitles, or descriptions collectively garnered over 17 billion downloads worldwide in 2024. This marks a significant increase from 5 billion downloads in 2019, demonstrating a growing global appetite for AI-powered tools. “This accounted for 13% of all app downloads in 2024, with major markets such as India, the United States, China, Indonesia, and Brazil each contributing over one billion downloads,” the report stated.
The surge in generative AI adoption has translated into massive revenue growth. In-app purchase (IAP) revenue from AI chatbot and AI art generator apps skyrocketed from $30 million in 2022 to $455 million in 2023, reaching nearly $1.3 billion in 2024. The United States emerged as the dominant market, accounting for 45% of total global revenue from generative AI applications. Other leading markets included United Kingdom accounting for 4%, Germany accounting for 4%, Japan accounting for 3% and Canada accounting for 3%.
Despite not being among the top 10 markets for overall mobile consumer spending, Brazil ranked seventh in terms of generative AI app revenue. Conversely, China contributed less than 2% of IAP revenue for AI apps in 2024.
Among various AI-powered applications, AI chatbots remain the most popular subgenre. Leading technology companies have entered the space with their own AI-powered chatbots, including Google Gemini, ByteDance’s Doubao and Microsoft Copilot.
This influx of competition fueled a 119% year-over-year (YoY) increase in AI chatbot downloads in the last quarter of 2024. Although AI art generator apps experienced slower adoption, they still recorded 85 million downloads, reflecting a 21% YoY growth. Despite the rise of competitors, ChatGPT maintained its dominance in the generative AI market, accounting for 40% of global AI consumer spending and 23% of total AI-related downloads in 2024. ChatGPT’s mobile adoption has soared, with monthly active users (MAUs) skyrocketing by 500% YoY, surpassing 160 million in the third quarter of 2024.
Among apps launched in the past three years, ChatGPT was the third-fastest to reach 50 million MAUs globally, achieving this milestone within five months of its launch in May 2023. Its growth remained strong despite a delayed rollout on Google Play (July 2023), several months after its iOS debut. Beyond chatbot applications, generative AI is being integrated into various app categories, from travel and education to social networking and productivity tools. The number of generative AI apps exceeding $10 million in IAP revenue reached 16 in 2024, while 25 apps surpassed 10 million downloads.
Furthermore, developers are increasingly embedding AI-powered features across industries. In 2023, the number of apps incorporating AI-related terms in their names and descriptions more than doubled compared to 2022. While growth in AI-themed apps slowed in 2024, demand remained strong, with over 3,000 apps introducing AI-related elements across 15 categories, including productivity, photo & video, lifestyle, finance and music.
This trend emphasizes the widespread adoption of AI-powered functionalities, shaping the future of mobile applications across industries.
