DeepSeek app holds top global spot in downloads, led by India

India contributed 15.6% of all downloads across platforms since its launch, the data showed. Bloomberg

DeepSeek’s AI assistant topped the list of most downloaded mobile apps across 140 markets, with India accounting for the largest percentage of new users.

The reasoning artificial intelligence chatbot rose to the No. 1 spot on Apple Inc.’s App Store on Jan. 26 and has held that position globally since, according to Appfigures data that excludes third-party app stores in China. India contributed 15.6% of all downloads across platforms since its launch, the data showed.

Since its release earlier in January, the free DeepSeek app has drawn both awe and consternation for its apparent competitiveness with world-leading AI bots at a fraction of the cost. The explosive growth and interest in DeepSeek rocked stock markets worldwide as its success seemed to suggest popular AI apps could be developed without enormous investments in hardware.

The app has also taken the top spot on Alphabet Inc.’s Android Play Store in the US, a position it’s held since Jan. 28, Sensor Tower research showed. With 16 million downloads over its first 18 days, the app almost doubled the 9 million notched by OpenAI’s ChatGPT when it was first released, Sensor Tower said.

Still, its total users to date pale in comparison to those of ChatGPT, and there may be hurdles to further growth as governments and companies consider its potential cybersecurity implications. Hundreds of firms and government contractors have blocked DeepSeek as a precautionary measure, Bloomberg News reported this week.