Grok Surges to Third Most-Used US Chatbot Despite Controversy

Grok Surges to Third Most-Used US Chatbot Despite Controversy

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has achieved a remarkable milestone: becoming the third most-used chatbot in the United States. According to data from research firm Apptopia, Grok's US market share jumped to 17.8% in January 2026, up from 14% in December 2025 and just 1.9% in January 2025.

The growth firmed Grok firmly in third place behind market leader OpenAI's ChatGPT and second-placed Google Gemini—remarkable given that xAI only entered the chatbot race in mid-2023.

Primary sources:

• •Reuters — Musk's AI chatbot Grok gains US market share amid sexualized images backlash (Feb 13, 2026)

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/musks-ai-chatbot-groks-us-market-share-jumps-amid-sexualized-images-backlash-2026-02-13/

• •Big Technology — Grok Is Gaining on ChatGPT and Gemini. How It Got There Isn't Pretty. (Feb 13, 2026)

https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/grok-is-gaining-on-chatgpt-and-gemini

The Growth Trajectory

Grok's rise has been meteoric by any measure:

• •January 2025: 1.9% market share
• •December 2025: 14% market share
• •January 2026: 17.8% market share

Among daily active users, Grok's share grew from 1.6% in January 2025 to 15.2% in January 2026—a nearly tenfold increase in just one year.

In the process, Grok has surpassed competing chatbots including Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, DeepSeek, and Claude.

What Drove the Surge?

The acceleration in January 2026 coincided with a major controversy. In early January, reports emerged that Grok would generate undressed images of people upon request, including minors. The scandal went viral and drew widespread condemnation, but it also appears to have driven a massive spike in app downloads.

According to Apptopia data, Grok's daily downloads jumped from around 500,000 in late December to close to 1 million in early January—the same period when the image generation scandal broke.

The controversy placed Grok in the spotlight globally, and evidently many users were curious enough to try the chatbot themselves.

A Male-Dominated User Base

Grok's user demographics reveal a heavily male audience. Over the past six months, 82% of Grok's weekly active users have been male, compared to 49.9% for ChatGPT, 45% for Gemini, and 77.8% for Claude.

This skew appears intentional. xAI has built features specifically targeting this audience, including an anime AI companion that, with prompting, will engage users in sexual conversations. Elon Musk has actively promoted these features on his X platform.

The Washington Post reported that some xAI employees signed waivers acknowledging their work would expose them to "sensitive, violent, sexual and/or other offensive or disturbing content," then reviewed sexual conversations users had with Grok to train the model.

The Bigger Picture: AI Companions Go Mainstream

Grok's trajectory may preview where the broader AI industry is heading. OpenAI is planning to roll out "Adult Mode" in ChatGPT in the coming months—a feature designed for users who want more intimate conversations with their AI assistants.

The competitive pressure is intensifying as AI companies prepare for potential public offerings. SpaceX recently acquired xAI in a deal reportedly valued at $125 billion, positioning the combined company to potentially beat OpenAI to the public markets.

Once these companies face investor scrutiny quarterly, the incentive to maximize engagement—even through adult-oriented features—will only grow.

Key Takeaways

• •Grok is now the third most-used chatbot in the US with 17.8% market share
• •Growth accelerated during a scandal over AI-generated sexualized images
• •82% of users are male—significantly higher than competitors
• •The trend suggests AI companion features may become standard across the industry