India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0 since its launch last week, OpenAI said on Thursday. However, third-party data reviewed by TechCrunch shows a more measured global response, with limited overall growth alongside sharp spikes in select emerging markets.
ChatGPT Images 2.0, the latest upgrade to OpenAI’s image generation, is designed to handle more complex messages and produce detailed graphics, including accurate text in multiple languages. The first patterns from the company suggest that users – especially in India, its biggest market – use it to create personal graphics such as avatars, stylized portraits and fantasy-themed images.
Data shared by Sensor Tower and Similarweb with TechCrunch suggests the rollout led to a more mixed global response. ChatGPT’s app downloads grew 11% week-over-week after launch, per Sensor Tower, but overall engagement gains were modest, with daily active users and sessions increasing only about 1%. Similar web data also shows a limited increase in ChatGPT’s global web traffic, up around 1.6% week over week over the same period.
However, Sensor Tower data indicates that some emerging markets – including Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia – saw stronger increases in ChatGPT app downloads, with increases of up to 79% week-over-week during the rollout period.
India, meanwhile, remained a major source of activity during the rollout. 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 on a week-over-week basis. Similar web data also indicates a limited increase in engagement, with daily active users in India increasing by around 3.4% week-on-week during the same period.
In India, early trends suggest that ChatGPT Images 2.0 is largely used as a form of self-expression. Instead of purely functional results, users create studio-style portraits from everyday photos, social-ready images and imaginative center-placed graphics, OpenAI said.
Early patterns also highlight how AI imaging tools are being adopted differently in markets. While India’s large user base leads overall scale, sharper spikes in countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia indicate greater demand from new users in emerging markets after the launch.
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The release of OpenAI Images 2.0 comes amid intensifying competition in AI imaging. Google’s earlier image-focused model, the original Nano Banana, also saw strong early traction in India, indicating how the nation has become an important market for image creation.
With the new version of ChatGPT Images, OpenAI pushes forward with improvements such as better rendering of non-Latin text, including Hindi and Bengali, and new “thinking” capabilities that allow it to refine outputs and create 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 graphics and modern paintings. Users also use the AI tool to bring back older photos and create cinematic portrait collages, the company said, suggesting early patterns for more personal use.
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