Nano Banana Saves Google: Gemini Dethrones ChatGPT as GOOG Hits $3 Trillion – Decrypt

In short
Google’s Gemini to #1 in app downloads this month and Search pursuits this week.
That is the primary time Gemini app dethrones ChatGPT.
This additionally helped increase Google’s valuation to beat $3 trillion, simply behind Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft.
Google's Gemini app hit the highest of the Apple App Retailer on September 15, dethroning ChatGPT for the primary time since OpenAI's chatbot launched practically three years in the past. The catalyst wasn't a breakthrough in synthetic normal intelligence or some new reasoning mode—in spite of everything, Gemini 2.5 was launched in March—it appears to be the general public’s thirst for making memes and enhancing pictures.”Picture enhancing is likely one of the hottest use instances for Nano Banana,” the corporate tweeted final week. Whereas Google did not present any particular causes for its come-from-behind surge in recognition, given the timing, it is secure to imagine that Nano Banana gave the corporate an enormous bump.One particular immediate for Google’s new picture enhancing mannequin let customers remodel images into 3D collectible-style portraits full with plastic packaging and show bases. That was sufficient to make the Gemini have its “wen moon” second.Inside two weeks of going viral in early September, Gemini hit #1 on each the Apple App Retailer and Google Play Retailer globally. The app added 23 million first-time customers and customers generated over half a billion pictures in days, in accordance with Google’s VP Josh Woodward.
Replace: Within the final 4 days, @GeminiApp has added:+ 13M extra first-time customers (23M+ whole now)+ 300M extra pictures (500M+ whole now)
🍌 @NanoBanana is unreal
— Josh Woodward (@joshwoodward) September 8, 2025Google Tendencies knowledge reveals world searches for Gemini overtook ChatGPT on September 12—the primary time that is occurred since ChatGPT's November 2022 debut.Picture: Google TrendsBefore Nano Banana, Gemini pulled in about 13 million month-to-month downloads in comparison with ChatGPT's 64 million, in accordance with AppMagic. ChatGPT commanded 60% of AI-related internet visitors with practically 6 billion month-to-month visits, virtually 10 instances Gemini's numbers regardless of being built-in into Android units and Google companies utilized by 2 billion individuals.The surge helped push Alphabet's market cap previous $3 trillion, with shares climbing 4% to round $252. That places Google's mum or dad firm in rarefied air alongside Nvidia ($4.3 trillion), Microsoft ($3.8 trillion), and Apple ($3.5 trillion).Picture: companiesmarketcap.comAlphabet's inventory has climbed practically 30% year-to-date, outpacing the Nasdaq's 15% acquire. The September milestone got here after a positive antitrust ruling that prevented forcing Google to divest Chrome or Android. However the Nano Banana phenomenon contributed on to investor enthusiasm. Analysts undertaking the characteristic might assist Google improve its income by way of new Gemini subscriptions.”If Gemini can stay on the prime of the App Retailer charts, we consider extra buyers will begin to view Gemini as a powerful core providing with incremental use instances that complement (versus cannibalize) the core search expertise,” Keybanc Capital analyst Justin Patterson wrote in a report.OpenAI discovered this lesson months in the past. Its “Ghiblify” characteristic—which remodeled images into Studio Ghibli-style animations—drove greater than 1 million individuals to join ChatGPT in a single hour. The characteristic went so viral that OpenAI needed to implement charge limits after customers generated hundreds of thousands of whimsical portraits, even recreating controversial moments just like the 9/11 terrorist assaults within the Ghibli fashion.xAI found the identical dynamic with Grok, although Elon Musk's firm took a special strategy. When Grok customers discovered they might generate anime-style “waifus” with out the content material restrictions different AIs imposed, downloads spiked 300% in Asian markets. Musk himself posted a number of generated pictures on X, alongside a “spicy mode” that permit customers generate NSFW movies utilizing Grok’s AI
Vibes have shifted absolutely.Gemini has overtaken ChatGPT on the AppStore rankings and now worldwide in Search Curiosity as properly.
It is a no-brainer that picture enhancing is the only real purpose for this. Nano banana has rescued Google within the AI race!
🤏🍌🤏🍌🤏🍌 pic.twitter.com/YD2eusnthW
— Taufiq (@taufiqintech) September 15, 2025ChatGPT nonetheless dominates on uncooked metrics—700 million weekly energetic customers and over 1 billion day by day queries within the final quarter, however Gemini's sudden rise reveals how rapidly the panorama can shift when an AI characteristic catches hearth on social media.Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis tweeted: “Congrats to the @GeminiApp staff… that is simply the beginning.”Let’s hope there are extra memes to return.Typically Clever NewsletterA weekly AI journey narrated by Gen, a generative AI mannequin.