Artificial Intelligence is in a boom. Image generation, intelligent chatbots and AI-enabled search engines have been the focus of significant public attention since 2023, leading more companies to invest heavily in AI innovation.
Within the Product category in the App Store, the number of apps with names that include the term “AI” has seen substantial growth, rising by 1033 percent in the three years since 2020.
OpenAI has made waves with its GPT-powered chatbot ChatGPT, which launched in November 2022 and had gained 100 million users by January. ChatGPT can do more than simply answer user queries. It has been used to write computer programmes, compose essays and music, generate business ideas and translate text.
Microsoft’s Bing AI incorporated OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology to improve search results, and it has caused such a stir in the search engine market that Samsung has reportedly been considering replacing Google with Bing as the default on its devices, a switch worth $3 billion in annual revenue.
While other companies have developed chatbots, they have not seen the same success. Microsoft’s Tay chatbot was online for less than 24 hours following its launch in 2016 after it began to provide racist and xenophobic answers to questions. Meta’s Blenderbot struggled with the same issue, and Google is yet to widely release its LaMDA bot.
The technology is still in its infancy and there have been warnings about incorrect or biased responses and harmful content. Some experts are also concerned about the possibility of chatbots being used to cheat on exams, create malware and replace jobs. Over 30,000 people, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, signed an open letter calling on AI labs to pause the training of systems more powerful than GPT-4.
Several years ago, the future of AI seemed to be voice assistants. Amazon introduced Alexa and Echo products, Apple brought in Siri, Google Assistant was launched, and Microsoft had Cortana. These voice assistants are now available on billions of devices, but they are not matched by strong revenue generation.
Amazon’s business model of selling units at cost in an attempt to recuperate revenue through usage appears to have faltered with its Alexa-enabled products. Alexa’s division was estimated to lose $10 billion in 2022, as the company has failed to monetise its voice assistant. Despite Amazon’s hopes that users would make purchases through voice commands, the majority of interactions are commands such as to play music or set a timer, which generate little to no revenue.
Google has also re-evaluated the potential of its voice assistant, moving resources away from Google Assistant to focus more on its hardware products. Insider Intelligence forecast only 13 percent of American consumers shopped by smart speaker in 2022 and estimates do not predict this substantially rising.
One genre of AI apps which has managed to capitalise on user trends is photo editing. Most of these apps offer minor changes to photos for free, while more advanced modifications are behind a paywall. The likes of FaceApp and Lensa AI saw revenue grow during the coronavirus pandemic as users sought to entertain themselves at home, and received another boost of users after OpenAI launched DALL-E and several apps added AI-generated portraits for users.
These apps have not been without controversy, as they have been accused of stealing artists’ work. Generative systems scrape the web for content regardless of source, and the resulting images can be used to train the programme, regardless of copyright or trademark claims. In a few instances, users have had portraits generated by the AI with a trademark or signature still apparent.
We have collected data and statistics on the AI app sector. Read on below to find out more.
Key AI statistics
- The AI app sector generated $2.5 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 38.3% until 2028
- FaceApp was the top grossing AI-powered app, generating $100 million in 2022
- Over 660 million people use Siri every month and the Apple product commands a 36% market share of voice assistants
- In the first quarter of 2023, over a fifth of all downloads of AI apps were from American users
Top AI Apps
| App Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| https://chat.openai.com/ | ChatGPT | Launched at the end of 2022, OpenAI's chatbot is the fastest-growing consumer software in history. ChatGPT is able to take into account previous prompts to hold conversations with users |
| https://www.alexa.com/ | Alexa | Amazon's cloud based AI is a virtual assistant which can control some smart devices, as well as perform tasks such as music playback, setting alarms, providing real time information and making to-do lists |
| https://elsaspeak.com/en/ | ELSA: Learn And Speak English | ELSA acts as an English speaking coach which provides immediate pronunciation feedback from short conversations |
| https://www.faceapp.com/ | FaceApp | Photo editing app FaceApp offers AI filters, backgrounds and effects to change portraits |
| https://assistant.google.com/ | Google Assistant | Google Assistant is available on mobile and home automation devices, and is able to engage in two-way conversations with users |
| https://prisma-ai.com/lensa | Lensa | Images can be retouched, blurred or edited with special effects through Lensa |
| https://www.bing.com/?/ai | Bing AI | Based on OpenAI's GPT-4 model, Bing AI can write content, provide information available online and design artwork, while citing its sources |
| https://otter.ai/ | Otter AI | Transcription service Otter has incorporated AI to create automated meeting notes, recordings and slide capture |
| https://www.apple.com/uk/siri/ | Siri | Apple's virtual assistant Siri answers users' questions and performs tasks while adapting to individual language usages and preferences |
| https://socratic.org/ | Socratic | Acquired by Google in 2018, Socratic provides educational resources for students based on photos of homework questions |
| https://www.w.ai/ | WOMBO Dream | WOMBO Dream creates art based on users' prompts based on a range of art styles |
AI App Revenue
The AI app sector is forecast to grow from $2.5 billion in 2022 to $38.5 billion in 2028 as the technology evolves and more businesses switch to AI processes.
AI app sector annual revenue 2017 to 2022 ($bn)
AI app sector forecast annual revenue 2023 to 2028 ($bn)
AI In-App Revenue
From June 2022 to June 2023, FaceApp made $100 million in in-app revenue. Facetune, a very similar app to FaceApp, made $80 million.
AI in-app revenue 2022 to 2023 ($mm)
| App | Revenue ($mm) |
|---|---|
| FaceApp | 100 |
| Facetune | 80 |
| Picsart | 70 |
| Lensa AI | 45 |
| Meitu | 20 |
| Remini | 20 |
| PhotoRoom | 15 |
| PlantIn | 10 |
Source: AppMagic
AI Revenue by Country
The United States dominated in-app revenue in the first quarter of 2023, at 41% of all purchases.
AI App Usage
Voice assistants Siri and Google Assistant lead monthly average user figures with over half a billion. Bing’s recently launched AI chat has experienced over 100 million daily active users since its introduction earlier this year.
AI app sector users 2023 (mm)
| App | Users (mm) |
|---|---|
| Siri | 660 |
| Google Assistant | 500 |
| Alexa | 200 |
| Bing AI | 100 |
| ChatGPT | 100 |
| FaceApp | 33 |
| ELSA: Learn And Speak English | 13 |
| Otter AI | 10 |
| WOMBO | 6 |
| Lensa | 1.1 |
Sources: Amazon, AppMagic, CNN, Tech Crunch, Sensor Tower
Voice assistant market share 2020 (%)
| Voice Assistant | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Siri | 36 |
| Google Assistant | 36 |
| Alexa | 25 |
| Cortana | 19 |
The sum is greater than 100% as people may use more than one assistant. Source: Semrush
AI Downloads by App
Downloads of image editing and filter apps such as FaceApp, Lensa and WOMBO Dream fluctuate with internet trends. FaceApp has led downloads in this category with 350 million cumulative.
AI app downloads 2022 to 2023 (mm)
| App | Downloads (mm) |
|---|---|
| Picsart | 150 |
| Noizz | 105 |
| Remini | 100 |
| FaceApp | 65 |
| Meitu | 45 |
| PhotoRoom | 40 |
| Lensa AI | 30 |
| Chat with Ask AI | 25 |
| Bing | 23 |
| Facetune | 16 |
| ChatGPT | 14 |
AI Download by Country
The USA is responsible for over a fifth of all downloads of AI apps in the first quarter of 2023, with India and Brazil representing 6% and 5% respectively.
