Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing into what appears to be the next major step in the information age, akin to the internet itself and the smartphone.
In such a climate, numerous companies worldwide are integrating AI into their products and services, and the biggest technology corporations have developed their own models, with the popular large language models (LLMs) taking the lead.
Despite the many available platforms, Finbold research found that, as of January 2025, ChatGPT remains the undisputed leader in its sector as the global search volume for OpenAI’s platform remains approximately 20 times larger than for its biggest competitor.
Specifically, ChatGPT’s search volume in the U.S. alone stands at 26 million; in India, the figure is as high as 37 million. Globally, the search volume for OpenAI’s model dwarfs the national numbers at 210 million.
Google Gemini is the second most-searched AI, Grok the last
Despite the first model to see a public launch remaining dominant, other prominent products have steadily gained traction.
Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Gemini – originally known as Google Bard – is the second most sought-after LLM with a global search volume of 10 million. In the U.S., the figure stands at 861,000, and Vietnam takes a close second place at 848,000.
Despite coming from a new and lesser-known company, Perplexity AI is the third most popular in the world, with the global volume coming in at 7.1 million. Still, it is interesting that the platform is, by far, the most popular in Indonesia, with 2.7 million users.
Simultaneously, in the U.S., the figure comes in at 487,000; in India, which takes third place for Perplexity, it is 431,000.
Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Copilot, despite coming from the same company that was an early backer of OpenAI, enjoys only a relatively low global interest, with search volume amounting to 5.9 million. It is also the most searched-for in the U.S. at 539,000, but only by a slight margin, as the figure in India stands at 535,000.
Much like with Perplexity, search trends for Anthropic’s Claude AI and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) Meta AI demonstrate that newer companies have been able to compete with established technology giants. Indeed, the global search volume for the former stands at 611,000, and for the latter, at 590,000 – only 21,000 fewer.
Finally, what may come as a surprise to fans of Elon Musk, given his December 11, 2024 X post claiming that ‘searches for Grok, made by xAI, just exceeded 50% of searches for ChapGPT,’ the model is seventh – last – in terms of search volume.
In fact, Grok only boasts a global volume of 340,000, with most searches coming from the U.S. – 95,000 – followed by Türkiye – 23,000 – and France – 21,000. Community notes on Musk’s original post claim that the figures represented were misleading as they only covered traffic in Japan.
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Perhaps the most interesting facet of the data is a shift in interest compared to 2023 – the year when nearly all of the biggest LLMs launched. Specifically, ChatGPT – if the figures for the free version and the ChatGPT-4 platform are combined – was only the second most used.
At the time, MetaAI’s LLaMa boasted some 600 million users – far exceeding the early 2025 search volume – while the combined ChatGPT figures stood at 380 million. Google’s offering also boasted far better results in 2023 than 2025 figures suggest, as its user base amounted to 275 million.
Why AI remains at a crossroads despite strong search interest
Despite the strong user figures and substantial cumulative search volume, the AI sector remains at a crossroads. On the one hand, recent research demonstrates that there has been significant adoption of the technology among groups such as university students.
For example, an August study published in Campus Technology indicated that as many as 86% of students are using AI in their studies.
Simultaneously, the developments have been embraced by companies developing, refurbishing, or otherwise implementing various AI products, and investors have, at least at face value, been enthusiastic about the trends.
Still, criticism that the current versions of AI are not real artificial intelligence remains as abundant as mishaps stemming from the implementation of the technology.
The technology’s role in generating spam and misinformation – including funny-yet-dangerous cases such as recommending glue as a pizza ingredient – has been mentioned particularly often.
Elsewhere, some of the biggest fears related to the technology came to life in San Francisco in December 2024 when a company called Artisan AI put up billboards urging corporations to ‘stop hiring humans’ since ‘(AI) Artisans won’t complain about work-life balance.’
