Google's Gemini app hits whopping 450M monthly active users
What's the story
Google's Gemini app has crossed the milestone of 450 million monthly active users, according to Shekar Khosla, Vice President of Marketing and Site Lead at Google India. The number is a major jump from the previous quarter, with daily usage increasing by over 50%. The surge in user engagement comes after Google offered free access to its premium Google AI Pro plan (costs ₹19,500/year) for Indian college students aged 18 years and above. The offer is valid until September 15.
User accessibility
Gemini app is available in 9 Indian languages
The Gemini app was launched in India in June. It is now available in nine Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Users can access the app on Android by downloading it or using Google Assistant. Once the app is downloaded or activated via Google Assistant, users can access its features by swiping from the corners of their screens or saying "Hey Google."
AI advancements
Localization of onshore processing for Gemini
At the Google I/O Connect India 2025 event, the company announced several initiatives to boost India's AI capabilities and empower developers. The major announcement was the localization of onshore processing for Gemini 2.5 Flash, which will provide faster, low-latency AI performance for Indian developers in regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and governance.
Strategic partnerships
Collaboration with start-ups on Make-in-India AI models
Google is also working with three India AI Mission start-ups, Sarvam, Soket AI, and Gnani, on Make-in-India AI models based on Gemma. The company's collaboration with IIT Bombay's BharatGen is also noteworthy as it seeks to improve automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) models for Indic languages. These strategic partnerships are part of Google's broader strategy to enhance its presence in the Indian market and contribute to the country's technological growth.