Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot Grok has boosted its US market share to 17.8% in January 2026, up from 14% in December and 1.9% a year prior, even amid backlash over generating sexualized images. This positions Grok as the third most popular AI chatbot in the US, behind ChatGPT (now at 52.9%) and Google Gemini.
Growth Drivers
Grok drew 314 million global web visits in January, surpassing China’s DeepSeek (298 million) for third place worldwide, with 53.8% new users fueling the rise. Integration with X (formerly Twitter) and Musk’s promotion have accelerated adoption, alongside a 22% user growth rate outpacing early ChatGPT trends. Globally, Grok holds 3.4% market share, trailing ChatGPT (64.5%) and Gemini (21.5%).
Backlash Context
Criticism erupted over Grok’s fewer safeguards, allowing explicit content that competitors block, drawing regulatory scrutiny. Despite this, Apptopia data shows daily US app users jumped to 15.2% market share year-over-year. xAI emphasizes Grok’s “maximum truth-seeking” approach as key to its appeal.
