High 50 Most Widespread AI Apps — One Factor Sticks Out to Me

Take a guess: What is the No. 1 hottest AI app and web site? OK, that was straightforward, it is ChatGPT.

Andreessen Horowitz simply printed its semi-annual record of the highest AI merchandise, and it presents some surprises past Chat GPT and Gemini.

The highest 50 record is break up into two variations: net merchandise and apps. Though ChatGPT tops each variations, there are some actual variations the additional you go within the record.

In keeping with Az16 accomplice Olivia Moore, who compiled the lists, the online information relies on analytics from SimilarWeb and app information from Sensor Tower. It spans simply the final six months.

The very first thing that jumped out to me on each lists is what number of of those I hadn’t heard of — even names fairly excessive on the record. A part of that’s as a result of a few of these are primarily for Chinese language customers, like Doubao, which is made by ByteDance and ranked No. 4 on the record for cell apps.

In a YouTube video, Moore explains that it is because sure common AI instruments like ChatGPT are banned in China, so there are different general-use AI instruments that change them for numerous Chinese language customers. Quark, Alibaba’s assistant, is one in all these, as is Kimi, all within the high 20. Moore factors on the market’s one other class of merchandise inbuilt China, however meant to be used by the remainder of the world, like DeepSeek, Kling, and SeaArt.

Just a few of those common apps aren’t completely groundbreaking new vibecoding instruments; they’re mainly face filter apps for cleansing up your selfies (FaceApp, BeautyPlus, just a few others). I used to be personally happy to see that the plant-identifying app I exploit in my backyard, Pl@ntNet, made it to No. 50 on the app record — beating out Meta AI’s stand-alone app, lol.

However what caught out to me most was simply what number of of those high 50 merchandise — for each net and app — are companion chatbots. On this picture, Moore highlighted all of the apps which might be companion chats for net — and it is 20% of the record:

And be mindful: companion chatting is likely one of the most typical makes use of for ChatGPT, the No. 1 product on the record. Elon Musk’s Grok, additionally fairly excessive up for a brand new entrant, can be closely selling its new “Ani” and different character companion chat options.

These caught out to me particularly as a result of the potential perils of AI companion chatbots — particularly for younger individuals — have been within the information recently. The New York Instances had a narrative this week a couple of teenage boy who dedicated suicide after speaking to ChatGPT for months; his mother and father at the moment are suing OpenAI. (The corporate mentioned in a weblog put up Tuesday that it was engaged on new safeguards for dealing with delicate conditions.)

Meta can be dealing with scrutiny for a way its AI merchandise chat with teenagers and children after a Reuters report revealed inside tips that mentioned it was OK for AI to romantically chat with children. (A Meta spokesperson mentioned the rules have been modified, and it by no means ought to have been allowed.) Now, a number of senators are demanding solutions from Meta.

What I discover considerably eyebrow-raising is that companion chatting, as fraught as it may be, appears to be one of the vital common (and profitable) issues for an AI firm proper now.

I’ve to marvel if public opinion on these companion AI apps will flip within the subsequent 12 months or two — and make these lists presumably a lot completely different in future years.