While the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT has surpassed 500 million users, the number of users for Elon Musk’s chatbot ‘Grok’ has also significantly increased.

According to data from market research firm SimilarWeb on the 2nd, the average daily web visitors to Grok, the chatbot developed by Musk’s AI company xAI, reached 16.5 million worldwide in March. This figure matches the number recorded for the chatbot from Chinese AI company DeepSeek.

David Carr, an editor at SimilarWeb, commented, “Compared to ChatGPT, which exceeded 500 million weekly active users by the end of March, these numbers are still modest. However, xAI’s Grok and DeepSeek’s chatbot are fiercely competing for the second-place spot.”

Notably, while DeepSeek’s model saw a 25% decrease in daily visitors in March compared to February, Grok’s web visitor numbers surged significantly.

Carr noted, “The fastest-growing AI platform right now is Grok, with monthly traffic increasing by approximately 800% compared to the previous month.”

This growth follows the release of Grok’s latest version, Grok 3, in February. At the time, Elon Musk described Grok 3 as “the smartest chatbot in the world.”

xAI has been working to expand its user base by releasing Grok as a standalone mobile app and making it accessible to free users as well.

According to app data analytics firm SensorTower, global mobile app downloads for Grok spiked more than tenfold in the week following its release on February 24. Daily active users (DAU) in the U.S. and globally increased by 2.6 times and 5 times, respectively.

Google’s AI model ‘Gemini’ and Microsoft’s ‘Copilot’ also saw growth, with average daily visitors in March rising by 7.4% and 2.1% from the previous month to 10.9 million and 2.4 million, respectively, reflecting a broader trend of increasing chatbot usage.

[Yonhap News]