Artificial intelligence (AI) is seeing a boom globally, and India might be leading the pack when it comes to AI use. The country is reportedly going all-in when it comes to downloading generative AI apps and using chatbots, even ahead of the US.
As per a report from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, India has become the world’s largest market for generative AI app downloads, with a 207 per cent year-on-year increase in 2025. This allowed the country to reportedly get ahead of the US in terms of gen-AI use.
This comes at a time when companies such as OpenAI and Google have provided affordable plans or offers to drive adoption in India. AI adoption was also a key topic during last week’s India AI Impact Summit, where OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that India has over 100 million weekly ChatGPT users.
1 in 5 gen-AI downloads come from India
According to the report, roughly 20 per cent, or 1 in 5, generative AI app downloads globally came from India. However, this large user base does not translate to revenue. Indian users only accounted for approximately 1 per cent of in-app purchases in 2025.
This monetisation gap highlights challenges faced by companies trying to convert rapid adoption into sustainable revenue. Even as downloads peaked in September and October with growth rates of 320 per cent and 260 per cent year-over-year, revenue growth lagged, and in-app purchases fell 22 per cent in November and 18 per cent in December.
Promotions and offers drive AI downloads
The surge in downloads has been fuelled by promotional pushes and the introduction of new AI platforms such as DeepSeek, Grok, and Meta AI.
In India, Google offers one-year free access to its AI Pro plan in collaboration with Jio, while Perplexity has offered its own Pro plan with Airtel. OpenAI also provided free one-year access to ChatGPT Go for a limited period.
The impact of free offers is visible. Following the November launch of free ChatGPT Go access, revenue from ChatGPT in India dropped 33 per cent in November and 32 per cent in December. Though the OpenAI platform maintained its dominance, commanding more than 60 per cent of generative AI in-app revenue in India.
Viral trends in AI-generated content have played a big role in this growth, with content creation and editing apps among the top 20 most downloaded AI apps in India in 2025.
US users still spend more time on AI apps
India’s digital infrastructure offers a significant advantage, with over a billion internet users and around 700 million smartphone owners, making it a critical battleground for AI growth. The report states that India made up about 19 per cent of the global user base for leading AI assistant apps in 2025, compared to 10 per cent for the U.S.
However, engagement levels still trail those in more mature markets. U.S. users spent 21 per cent more time per week on AI apps and logged 17 per cent more sessions on average compared to users in India.
