AI App Market Shifts: Meta AI Slows, Grok Soars; Google Debuts Strong
The AI app market has seen significant shifts in recent months. Google's growth slowed, while Grok soared to the top. T-Mobile's AI Studio made a strong debut, and the market is showing signs of stabilization.
T-Mobile, once a dominant force, has seen its growth slow down following an incident in June 2025. It now ranks a distant 46th on the web and failed to meet the mobile threshold. Meanwhile, Grok has risen rapidly, securing the 4th spot on the web and 23rd on mobile, with over 20 million monthly active users less than a year after launch.
The a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps list shows market consolidation, with only 11 new names making it onto the web list compared to the previous edition. Google's AI Studio debuted in the top 10, and NotebookLM ranks 13th. Replit is on the main list, while Bolt narrowly missed the cutoff in the 'Vibe Coding' category. The market is starting to stabilize after two and a half years of data collection, with approximately 22 of the 50 most popular mobile apps coming from China, and three Chinese companies represented in the web top 20.
Google has placed four products on the web list for the first time, with Gemini taking the second spot behind ChatGPT. However, no information is available on 14 companies that have been consistently present in the web-based Top 50 lists over the past five editions.
The AI app market continues to evolve, with new players rising and established ones facing challenges. The market is showing signs of stabilization, with Google making a strong showing and Chinese companies maintaining a significant presence. However, the disappearance of some long-standing companies from the lists raises questions about the market's future dynamics.
