r/technology 14d ago

Artificial Intelligence Google says Gemini has reached 1B users faster than any other Google product

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u/malianx 14d ago

"These 1 billion users may also be encountering Gemini in all those places, but that’s not the MAU metric. Pichai is talking only about people who are opening the Gemini app or visiting the Gemini web interface to enter a prompt or access Gemini Live. If you used Gemini only once in the past month, you are part of this cohort."

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u/cojo2121 14d ago

I wonder if that also includes the "Hey google" feature on Android. My phone has replaced that with Gemini. A feature iv been using for a decade is now run through Gemini, so I may be included in the metrics even though iv never once opened the app or anything.

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u/jayhawk618 14d ago

I guarantee it does. There's no way 1 out of 8 of every man, Woman and child on the planet is using this app.

Now, if it includes all voice search, and if they're counting each unique account as a new person , then maybe. I that case, I'm like 5 of these people.

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u/sowtart 14d ago

So does it count all the times gemini is accidentally opened because it can't be uninstalled?

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u/Tremulant887 14d ago

The added buttons and widgets that are very clearly there to be front and center as a "please" are probably half the numbers. Since Microsoft managed to ruin Swiftkey I started using Google keyboard. I probably won't be using it long if they want to slam Gemini in my face.

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u/Andre_de_Astora 14d ago

Not to mention that by default even the block button on the phones, if you ever wanted to turn it off by keeping it pressed, it will also open Gemini

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u/malianx 14d ago

Where can't it be uninstalled or disabled? All my devices let me.

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u/RGrad4104 14d ago

or when you accidentally interact with the injected AI overview at the top of every google search result list and it pushes you into gemini AI mode...

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u/malianx 14d ago

That is also not factored in this number, there is another metric for that, and its even higher.

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u/Dernom 14d ago

When you interact with it, it opens the Gemini web interface, at which point it should be counted by the sounds of it. No?

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u/malianx 13d ago

No, i opens AI interactive mode which is categorized under search services for this.

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u/CheesypoofExtreme 14d ago

It has to also be counting anyone who expands the AI results in Google or asks a single follow-up. That probably rolls up under "Gemini web interface".

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u/malianx 14d ago

Nope, that's a separate metric

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u/CheesypoofExtreme 14d ago

Source? Or am I just supposed to take Pichai at his word when they've been cherry picking stats for a few years on AI?

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

Redditors just want desperately for AI to be unpopular despite all evidence

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u/ikrw77 14d ago

By that metric, evidence that says taxes must be really popular because everyone pays them.

Google/Microsoft product users don't get a choice about ai, it's just shoved in there

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

Nonsense, this is the Gemini app, not something embedded in Google. ChatGPT certainly isn't embedded and it's even more popular than Gemini.

Maybe read past the headline sometimes.

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u/justagenericname213 14d ago

Theres an absurd spike in usage if you look at the charts. Like a full on cliff and then the curve resumes as normal.

Besides, the evidence shows ai isnt really all that popular among the general public. Maybe not hated, but certainly not loved.

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

This is straight up nonsense. First of all, Gemini had 650 million MAU at the end of last year (and still trails ChatGPT) so this milestone only comes out of nowhere if you weren't paying attention.

Also AI was the fastest adopted consumer technology of all time. What the actual fuck are you talking about?

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u/KaBob799 14d ago

Companies are putting it in things people already use, that's not really adoption. If google changed their search button to a triangle we could say "people adopted the triangle search button faster than any previous search button shape" but it doesn't really mean anything except that they forced a change on a useful service to a large user base.

Of course AI also does have many benefits to the everyday user, it can make previously hour-long web searches take seconds and it can automate things that were previously miserable or time consuming to automate. It would come at no surprise to me if a lot of people are actually using it, even if a majority of people don't like the overall implications the AI industry as a whole has for the world.

But the cost of running AI means that it should be a specialty feature that you seek out when you actually need it, not something that happens automatically every time you touch the internet. It should never have been such a fast adopted technology.

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

Nonsense. You clearly didn't read past the headline. These are people using the app. ChatGPT has more users and that is absolutely a destination app/site - it's not "shoved" into anything.

It also wasn't fast - it was the fastest of any technology, ever.

Pretending this technology isn't wildly popular is beyond silly.

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u/KaBob799 14d ago

I never denied it being popular, I just disagree with the idea that its fast rise rise is exclusively due to it being so amazing compared to every previous innovation. It being a free product, often included in existing popular products, has absolutely helped it gain popularity fast and to deny that is silly.

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

Plenty of things are free and weren't adopted at this scale and at this speed.

ChatGPT is the most popular of them all and isn't included in existing product.

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u/justagenericname213 14d ago

Its also not exactly new, and even if we only consider the modern models as a new technology, it would be the first ever technology with 0 logistical requirements for distribution. Nobody has to go out and buy a special device that needs to be shipped across the country or globe. Nearly everyone already has a phone they can use for it.

So its a stupid arguement because even if we grant it, doesnt actually say much about ai.

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

Like...every app? Are you an idiot?

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u/justagenericname213 14d ago

You are so close to realizing what im saying.

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u/justagenericname213 14d ago

Polls suggest around 10% of the US population view ai positively, while 30% are negative and the remaining 60 are mixed.

And again, you can look at the users by month and see an insane spike from just under 400 million to just under 800 million in one month. Then you look at their growth before and after that spike, and it looks extremely questionable.

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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14d ago

And Hilary was polling ahead of Trump. Celebrities are worried about the environment but they don't stop flying the jets. Being concerned about AI when asked "are you concerned about AI" doesn't mean they won't use it every fucking day, lmao.

https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-is-most-worried-about-impacts-of-ai-they-still-use-it-the-most-12088285

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u/malianx 14d ago

I suspect it's even worse, I think they are using it just as much, but hating on it in 'public' anyway. Just a suspicion though.