Nano Banana puts Gemini ahead in the AI ​​race

Google's AI-powered chat app, Gemini , recently rose to the top of the App Store's free app charts in both the US and major markets like India. This surpasses its biggest competitors, OpenAI's ChatGPT and Elon Musk's Grok. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis celebrated the achievement on social media, saying, "This is just the beginning," and praising his team.

WHAT IS A NANO BANANA?

Gemini's rise is largely attributed to the viral image editing tool " Nano Banana ," which launched in August. This feature allows users to transform their photos into hyper-realistic 3D figures housed in acrylic-based collectible boxes. The trend, which quickly spread on social media, generated significant engagement, much like the Studio Ghibli-style visualization trend that fueled ChatGPT's popularity last summer. In India, many people, from politicians to celebrities, joined the trend, generating millions of images.

Gemini's rise to the top of the App Store highlights the fierce competition among AI apps. While ChatGPT currently boasts a large global user base, Gemini stands out thanks to its built-in multimodal support and integration with the Google ecosystem.

This rise also comes after Elon Musk's accusations against Apple. Musk claimed in a lawsuit filed in August that Apple gave OpenAI an advantage in the App Store rankings. However, Gemini's rise to the top, along with the rise of other AI apps, contradicted these claims.