1 billion
The fastest app to a billion
ChatGPT became the fastest phone app ever to reach a billion monthly users, in May 2026. It took about three years.
Part 1 Big, silly numbers
36 billion hours
Time spent in AI apps
That’s how long people were on track to spend in AI apps from January to June 2026. A year earlier it was 17.2 billion. More than double!
4.1 million years
Wait, how long?
Add those 36 billion hours together and you get about 4.1 million years. Modern humans have only been around for about 300,000.
$4 billion+
Spent inside AI apps
People were on track to spend more than $4 billion inside AI apps in the first half of 2026. That’s 36% more than the six months before.
200,000+ apps
Everyone wants in
More than 200,000 apps now mention AI in their store description. Together they’re heading for about 10 billion downloads in half a year.
$1.3 billion
Ads about AI
US advertisers spent $1.3 billion on AI-themed ads from January to May 2026. That’s up 48% in one year.
Part 2 What people happily pay for
From $200 million to $1 billion in nine months
Higgsfield, an AI video app, says its yearly pace went from about $200 million at the end of 2025 to over $1 billion in September 2026.
The twist: over half of that money comes from business accounts, many of them making ads. People on its phone app bring in under 10%.
Kling grew more than 300% in a year
Kling AI, the video app from Kuaishou, earned more than 650 million yuan in the first three months of 2026. That’s up more than 300% on a year earlier.
In dollars: Kuaishou says Kling hit a pace of about $500 million a year in March 2026.
2 million people pay for AI songs
Suno, the AI music app, passed 2 million paying subscribers in February 2026. That’s about $300 million a year.
Fun bit: it got from 1 million to 2 million payers in about three months.
Part 3 The one that flopped
A feed of AI videos was not enough
OpenAI’s Sora app let people scroll through AI videos. On 24 March 2026, about six months after launch, OpenAI said it would close the app. Reports pointed to huge running costs and falling downloads.
The lesson: people pay to make things, not just to watch them.
Part 4 2026’s silliest video effects
Each of these starts with one photo and ends as a short clip people can’t stop sharing.
Part 5 True or false?
Tap a card to flip it.
Want to join the fun?
Yerk.app makes pictures and videos in your browser. Type a prompt, add a photo, or both. Quick Animate turns a picture into a short video in one tap.
Eligible new accounts can get free starting credits. After that it’s pay as you go, no subscription.
Quick answers FAQ
What is the biggest AI trend in 2026?
Making videos. At least 9 of the top 50 consumer AI apps by US spending in October 2026 are video makers, and one of them, Higgsfield, says it went from about a $200 million yearly pace to over $1 billion in nine months.
What do people spend the most money on in AI?
Chat assistants still bring in the most. ChatGPT alone took about 77% of the money spent in AI phone apps from 2025 into early 2026. Among creative tools, video makers hold the most spots in the top 50.
How much time do people spend in AI apps?
About 36 billion hours in the first half of 2026 by Sensor Tower’s estimate, more than double the 17.2 billion hours of the first half of 2025.
Where can I try AI video myself?
Yerk.app makes pictures and videos in your browser from a prompt, a photo, or both. Eligible new accounts can get free starting credits, and after that it is pay as you go, no subscription. Start free.
Where the facts come from
Reviewed 2026-10-22. Company figures are what the companies say about themselves; yearly paces are recent sales multiplied out to a year.
- Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 report, June 2026: ChatGPT reaching 1 billion monthly mobile users; 36 billion and 17.2 billion hours; over $4 billion in AI app spending, up 36%; over 200,000 AI apps and about 10 billion downloads; $1.3 billion in AI-themed US ads, up 48%.
- a16z, top consumer AI apps by monthly US spending, October 2026, based on YipitData panels.
- Business of Apps, AI app revenue analysis, 2026: ChatGPT’s share of AI phone app spending.
- Higgsfield statements and interviews with its chief executive, September and October 2026, reported by Trending Topics, Sacra and BigGo Finance.
- Kuaishou Technology, first-quarter 2026 results, May 2026: Kling AI revenue and its yearly pace in March 2026.
- Suno chief executive announcement, February 2026, reported by The Hollywood Reporter and Unchained Music.
- OpenAI announcement of 24 March 2026 on the Sora app, reported by Engadget, with Wall Street Journal and Reuters reporting on costs and downloads.
- Modern humans at about 300,000 years: the Jebel Irhoud fossils, Nature, 2017.