In September, two AI chatbots generated more revenue than ChatGPT, and five AI photo generation apps also surpassed ChatGPT in revenue.

By: Wang Mei

Source: Wall Street News

As a "phenomenal" product based on AI, OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT leads all other AI chat applications on mobile devices in terms of downloads and also holds a leading position in terms of revenue.

However, surprisingly, while ChatGPT's revenue has not shown signs of slowing down, some other AI applications have surpassed it. Some photo AI generation applications and even other AI chatbots actually earn more than ChatGPT, despite the latter being a well-known synonym for AI chat experiences.

Since its release on mobile devices in May of this year, ChatGPT's downloads and revenue have continued to grow. According to app analytics company Apptopia's analysis of the AI app market, ChatGPT surpassed 3.9 million downloads in its first month on iOS, and by June of this year, downloads had grown to 15.1 million. After a slight decline in July, downloads grew again, surpassing 23 million in September 2023.

In addition, ChatGPT's monthly active users (MAU) on mobile devices increased from 1.34 million in May to 38.88 million in September. More importantly, consumer revenue from ChatGPT's mobile app increased from $352,929 in the month of release to $1.98 million in September, approaching $2.39 million as of October 24, surpassing most players in the AI chat app market.

However, ChatGPT is not the highest-earning application in the AI chat field. "Chat & Ask AI" and "ChatOn- AI Chat Bot Assistant" earned nearly $3.38 million and $2.11 million in revenue, respectively, in September. Other apps followed closely, with "AI Chatbot — Nova" and "AI Chatbot: AI Chat Smith" earning nearly $1.44 million and $1.72 million in revenue in September.

Fierce Competition Among AI Mobile Users

At least five AI chat applications had over 2 million downloads in September, including several general applications, such as the four mentioned earlier, with download numbers of 2.44 million, 2.02 million, 3.1 million, and 2.9 million, respectively. These apps seem to have leveraged the App Store's search engine optimization—meaning they rank high for keywords that users might search for, such as "AI chat." Although this is still far below ChatGPT's 23 million last month, it does indicate that the AI app market has surpassed OpenAI's creation.

In addition, a16z-backed AI chatbot startup company Character.ai allows users to interact and create their own AI characters, with downloads reaching 2.39 million as of September.

More importantly, many AI chatbot apps also have active user bases. General apps have a following—meaning they are not just acquiring downloads but also retaining users. In September, "Chat & Ask AI" had 9.7 million MAU, "ChatOn- AI Chat Bot Assistant" had 3.5 million MAU, followed by "Genie — AI Chatbot AI Assistant" (2.3 million), "AI Chat — Chatbot AI Assistant" (2.17 million), "AI Chatbot — Nova" (8.55 million), and "AI Chatbot: AI Chat Smith" (8.48 million). In the same month, Character.ai had 5.92 million MAU.

There are also some AI photo generation applications that use AI technology to edit effects or create personalized portraits.

While these apps do not directly compete with ChatGPT in the same arena, some of them are competing with ChatGPT in terms of downloads, usage, and in-app purchase revenue.

ChatGPT had 23 million downloads in September, still leading the pack, but viral apps like "Remini" have approached ChatGPT in terms of installations. For example, "Remini" had 16.17 million downloads last month, and its AI portrait feature went viral on TikTok a few months ago. "Facetune AI Photo/Video Editor" had nearly 16.05 million installations in September.

Last month, "Remini" also exceeded 6.2 million MAU, and "FaceApp," which includes AI filters, exceeded 6.4 million MAU. Apps like "PicsArt" (4.27 million MAU), "Wonder - AI Art Generator" (4.77 million MAU), and "Facetune AI Photo/Video Editor" (5.22 million MAU) also had high usage rates.

Compared to ChatGPT, quite a few AI photo generation apps have attracted more revenue through in-app purchases. As of September 2023, ChatGPT's mobile consumer revenue was $1.98 million, while apps including "Remini," "PicsArt," "Wonder," "BeautyPlus—AI Photo/Video Edit," "FaceApp," and "Facetune: AI Photo/Video Editor" had revenues of approximately $6.22 million, $4.27 million, $2.08 million, $4.78 million, $6.42 million, and $5.22 million, respectively.

However, in some cases, the popularity of AI photo apps may be more short-lived than ChatGPT. For example, the popular app "Lensa" had 23.44 million downloads in December 2022. As of September 2023, the app's monthly installations had dropped to 413,814, and its MAU had decreased from nearly 24.9 million in December of last year to 739,000. Apptopia's research also found that the app attracted $739,000 in mobile consumer spending last month, far below its peak of over $24 million.

While the current numbers are still significant, they do indicate a trend of users switching between viral AI photo apps after a period, as new features are introduced and developed in other apps.

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