What’s new in AI apps? A16z’s 5th Gen AI Consumer Apps report shows the scene settling. Google makes a splash, ChatGPT still leads but rivals close in, and mobile sheds copycats for originals. Let’s cut to the core insights.
TDLR:
What’s Shifting? 👀
Under the Hood ⚙
Why You Should Care 🔍
Who’s Playing 💡
Hurdles Ahead ⚠️
Looking Forward 🔮
The Bros’ Take ✨
After two and a half years of rapid growth, the AI consumer app market is cooling into shape.
Rankings show 11 newcomers on the web list, down from 17 in March 2025, while mobile sees 14 fresh faces as App Stores crack down on copycat ChatGPT clones.
Google debuts four new web products, none copycats, making 15 total newcomers.
On mobile:
Gemini ranks number two, strong on Android
X’s Grok grew from zero users end of 2024 to 20 million MAUs mid-2025, boosted by Grok 4 and avatar features
Meta’s AI assistant struggles, showing fierce competition
Rankings use unique web visits (Similarweb) and mobile monthly active users (Sensor Tower). Only AI-native apps count, so Canva and Notion with generative AI features are excluded.
Google’s lineup shines: Gemini assistant, AI Studio’s developer sandboxes, NotebookLM’s steady growth, and Google Labs experiments.
AI giants battle as users choose assistants with better reasoning, multimodal features, and smooth integration.
This pulse on consumer demand shows China’s AI apps dominate local traffic and increasingly export globally despite censorship and licensing hurdles.
Mobile shakeouts prove quality and originality outpace clones. Vibe coding users building AI apps without deep coding skills gains traction, with data showing users stick around and spend more.
The Big 4 AI assistants include Google, OpenAI, X, and Meta, plus China’s heavy hitters Alibaba, Bytedance, and Moonshot AI. Others: Anthropic with Claude,
Perplexity’s growing assistant, DeepMind linked to Google.
Rising vibe coding stars Lovable, Replit, and Bolt push fresh creation. AI image and video pioneers Midjourney, Leonardo, Veed, and Eleven Labs round out a competitive field.
Top 50 Gen AI Consumer Web Products
Top 50 Gen AI Consumer Mobile Apps
China’s impact is huge.
Alibaba’s Quark (number nine), ByteDance’s Doubao (number twelve), and Moonshot’s Kimi (number seventeen).
Twenty-two of the top 50 mobile apps hail from China, concentrated in photo and video editing apps such as Meitu’s suite and ByteDance’s AI tools.
Rapid change has pain points. App store crackdowns curb poor apps but shake ecosystems.
China’s strict licensing, data hosting, and content controls shape AI innovation. User trust remains fragile, as incidents like Meta’s public feed mishap show.
Competition is fierce; quality and privacy will decide winners.
Google and ChatGPT face a fierce duel with new features and integrations. China’s AI exports grow despite hurdles.
Vibe coding, early but promising, may redefine how users build and launch AI apps beyond traditional development. The market is maturing but ripe for disruption.
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No hype involved, this report shows AI apps have leveled up fast.
Google’s Gemini and AI Studio challenge ChatGPT’s reign, while vibe coding signals a creator-driven new frontier.
The race for AI consumer dominance is heating up, making 2025 pivotal. And we're sooo bullish!
And that's it for today! Thanks for reading ♥️
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