How AI assistants went from “nice to have” to “can’t live without” in just two years
AI app downloads and in-app purchases have reached new heights, signalling a growing user reliance worldwide.
Two and a half years after OpenAI's ChatGPT hit the market, the mobile AI boom is still gathering speed. What began as a burst of curiosity in late 2022 has grown into a daily routine for hundreds of millions of people. These apps are no longer a novelty—they’re where people go to search, create, brainstorm, and get work done.
The momentum is reflected in the numbers. Sensor Towers' State of AI Apps Report 2025 show that in the first half of 2025, global downloads of generative AI apps reached 1.7 billion, a 67% jump from the previous six months.
And it’s not just about downloads; people are spending significantly more time using them. In just six months, usage totaled 15.6 billion hours, the equivalent of 86 million hours every single day. That translates to 426 billion individual sessions worldwide, averaging around 50 sessions for every person on the planet.
This rising engagement is matched by a growing willingness to spend. In-app purchases rose just as sharply to $1.9 billion in H1 2025, nearly double the total from late 2024, showing that users are willing to invest in getting the most out of these tools.
The AI chatbots era
Unsurprisingly, AI chatbots/assistants are driving most of this growth. Before the generative AI wave, image and video generators held the lead, but in 2022, the launch of ChatGPT shifted momentum sharply toward conversational assistants. Now, these tools have evolved beyond just talking back into “agentic” capabilities, taking direct actions on behalf of users.
