DeepSeek · OpenAI · Gemini · Google · Meta · ChatGPT · TechCrunch AI
Image AI models now drive app growth, beating chatbot upgrades
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Image model releases are driving growth for AI mobile apps, generating 6.5x more downloads than traditional model updates, according to a new report from app intelligence provider Appfigures.
Key facts
- For Google’s Gemini, the release of its image model Nano Banana drove an additional 22+ million downloads in the 28 days following the introduction of the Gemini 2.5 Flash image model last August
- For example, Appfigures noted that Nano Banana drove only $181,000 in estimated gross consumer spending during the 28-day window following its release, even though it produced a larger spike
- OpenAI’s 4o image-generation model led to an estimated $70 million in gross consumer spending over the 28 days after its launch, compared with its prior baseline, Appfigures said
- While DeepSeek R1 drove 28 million downloads after its January 2025 release, it wasn’t a typical model comparison event
Summary
This marks a shift from earlier days, when the release of new models powering the conversational experiences drove more demand, alongside the new features like a voice chat interface. For instance, ChatGPT and Gemini each added tens of millions of new downloads after releasing their respective image models, Appfigures found. For Google’s Gemini, the release of its image model Nano Banana drove an additional 22+ million downloads in the 28 days following the introduction of the Gemini 2.5 Flash image model last August. Meanwhile, ChatGPT added more than 12 million incremental installs in the 28 days after the introduction of its GPT-4o image model in March of last year.