By Christine Ji
Gemini’s Nano Banana image-editing feature has sparked fresh interest in Google’s generative-AI chatbot, signaling intensifying competition for ChatGPT
Gemini’s Nano Banana has edited over 500 million images since its launch in August.
Over the weekend, the Google Gemini artificial-intelligence assistant shot up the ranks to become the most popular free iPhone app, thanks to a new image-editing feature called Nano Banana.
It’s the latest sign that competition between generative-AI offerings is heating up, with Gemini bumping ChatGPT down to second place on Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) U.S. App Store.
Since Nano Banana’s release on Aug 26., Gemini has gained 23 million users and edited 500 million images. And while ChatGPT holds the largest market share for generative-AI usage, Nano Banana could be revealing cracks in the chatbot’s dominance, according to Richard Windsor, founder of research firm Radio Free Mobile.
Windsor believes Alphabet Inc.’s Google (GOOGL) (GOOG) has an edge in computational photography, or using software and AI to enhance digital images, as the company has been developing those capabilities for over a decade. That may give Google the upper hand over OpenAI and Anthropic.
To use Nano Banana, consumers can upload an original image to Gemini and prompt it to make alterations to the image. Users can also blend photos together. While AI-generated images have often struggled with accurate portrayals, Nano Banana’s subject consistency allows people and items to maintain their appearance over multiple editing rounds.
The key feature that Nano Banana offers is its native image-editing capabilities, “although when it comes to image creation from a text prompt, I would give the edge to OpenAI at the moment,” Windsor wrote on Monday.
“The idea here is that if Google can generate traction within the Gemini app for image manipulation, then its chances of enticing users to use Gemini for other functions improve meaningfully,” Windsor added.
Read on: Can Alphabet’s stock post more big gains? This Wall Street bull charts the path to $300.
ChatGPT’s first-mover advantage cemented its status as the industry incumbent. According to an Evercore ISI survey, 53% of respondents reported using ChatGPT. Gemini came in second, with 43% of respondents reporting usage. However, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney pointed out in a September note that Gemini users showed high satisfaction with their experience, and ChatGPT has not been able to show a “material disparity in the quality of [its] search results,” meaning that its lead is vulnerable to disruption.
Nano Banana could be the breakthrough that helps Gemini siphon market share from ChatGPT as Google taps into an area of expertise that other makers of large language models lack, according to Windsor.
Image creation and manipulation has become the third most common use case for chatbots, following general queries and learning a skill or task, and as of May 2025, ChatGPT held a slight lead in image creation among users, according to Evercore ISI. This indicates that Nano Banana’s strong reception could give Gemini a significant edge, using superior image-manipulation features as a gateway to attract users who then adopt its wider suite of AI tools.
Should Gemini become the top consumer AI application over ChatGPT, the consequences for OpenAI would be “disastrous,” Windsor said, as OpenAI’s “valuation and outlook depend on becoming the largest consumer AI ecosystem.”
The App Store has become a battleground for AI chatbots feuding for consumer attention. Last month, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the App Store unfairly favored ChatGPT over xAI’s Grok by artificially ranking ChatGPT as the No. 1 suggested app.
Read on: Could Microsoft buy OpenAI? A new arrangement makes that possible – one day.
-Christine Ji
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-15-25 1059ET
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.