Nano Banana drives Google Gemini past ChatGPT on iPhone app rankings

The big picture: Google's Gemini has surged to the top of Apple's App Store in the US, unseating OpenAI's ChatGPT after months of dominance. The shift signals a new front in the consumer AI battle, as two tech giants take sharply different paths: OpenAI betting on conversational intelligence and productivity, while Google leans into visual creativity and image editing. The outcome could shape how millions of users interact with AI, and which experiences define the next wave of consumer technology.

Google's Nano Banana image-editing tool is driving the rapid rise of the company's Gemini app, which has surged to the top of Apple's App Store in the United States. Its success underscores the intensifying competition with OpenAI's ChatGPT, which had long held the top spot before Google's recent ascent.

As of Friday, Gemini ranked first among free iPhone apps in the US ...