India has become the largest user base of ChatGPT Images 2.0 since its released last weekOpenAI said on Thursday. However, third-party data reviewed by TechCrunch points to a more measured global response, with limited overall growth along with strong spikes in select emerging markets.
ChatGPT Images 2.0, OpenAI’s latest imaging update, is designed to handle more complex prompts and produce detailed images, including accurate text in multiple languages. The company’s early patterns suggest that users (especially in India, its largest market) are using it to create personal images such as avatars, stylized portraits, and fantasy-themed images.
Data shared by Sensor Tower and Similarweb with TechCrunch suggests that the launch has led to a more mixed global response. ChatGPT app downloads increased 11% week over week after launch, according to Sensor Tower, but overall engagement gains were modest, with daily active users and sessions increasing only about 1%. Data from Similarweb also shows a limited increase in ChatGPT’s global web traffic, increasing by approximately 1.6% week over week during the same period.
However, Sensor Tower data indicates that some emerging markets, including Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia, experienced steeper spikes in ChatGPT app downloads, with increases of up to 79% week over week during the rollout period.
Meanwhile, India remained a major source of activity during the launch. Sensor Tower estimates show that ChatGPT was downloaded about 5 million times in India during its launch week, compared to about 2 million in the US, although growth remained modest week over week. Data from Similarweb also points to a limited increase in engagement, with daily active users in India increasing by around 3.4% week-over-week over the same period.
In India, early trends suggest that ChatGPT Images 2.0 is largely being used as a form of self-expression. Instead of purely functional results, users are creating studio-style portraits from everyday photographs, social media-ready images and imaginative visuals that put themselves at the center, OpenAI said.
Early patterns also highlight how AI imaging tools are being adopted differently across markets. While India’s large user base is driving overall scale, steeper spikes in countries like Pakistan and Indonesia point to greater demand from new users in emerging markets post-launch.
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The launch of OpenAI’s Images 2.0 comes amid intensifying competition in AI imaging. Google’s previous image-centric model, the original nanobananaalso saw strong initial traction in India, indicating how the nation has become a major market for imaging.
With the new release of ChatGPT Images, OpenAI is moving forward with improvements such as better representation of non-Latin text, including Hindi and Bengali, and new “thinking” capabilities that allow you to refine results and generate multiple variations from a single message.
Beyond stylized portraits and avatars, OpenAI said early users of Images 2.0 in India are experimenting with a wider range of formats, from fantasy newspaper covers to tarot-style images and fashion moodboards. Users are also using the AI tool to restore older photographs and create cinematic portrait collages, the company said, suggesting early patterns of more personal use.
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