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TLDR ChatGPT fell below half the assistant market for the first time, as Gemini and Claude kept gaining.
For the first time, ChatGPT is no longer most of the market. Its share fell to 46.4 percent in May 2026, down from over 50 percent in January, according to Sensor Tower.
Google's Gemini has climbed to 27.7 percent and Claude to 10.3, with Grok and Perplexity still under 5. The shift reflects people actively shopping between assistants rather than settling on one. OpenAI's Defense Department deal in February even triggered a measurable spike in uninstalls, a sign that trust and values weigh alongside features.
ChatGPT still leads on raw numbers, with 1.1 billion monthly active users. Claude stands out on a different metric: 13 percent of its users pay for a subscription, the highest conversion in the field.
The market is maturing rather than exploding. Spending in the first half of 2026 reached $4.2 billion, more than double the year before, but download and revenue growth have slowed, which hints the explosive land-grab phase is starting to wind down. If you are still choosing your first assistant, the Beginner's Guide is a good place to start.
Source: TechCrunch