Google Gemini exec says Nano Banana made its app a hit with younger users: 'We're seeing a big demographic shift' (www.businessinsider.com)

Google says its Gemini app now reaches 650 million monthly active users (up 200 million since July), a surge Google attributes largely to the viral image-editing tool Nano Banana. Launched in August, Nano Banana drove creative use cases—most notably 3D figurine-style images that blew up in Thailand, then Vietnam and Indonesia—and pulled a younger, more gender-balanced audience into the app. Gemini still trails ChatGPT’s reported 800 million weekly users, but the demographic shift (strong growth in the 18–34 cohort and more female users) and international uptake suggest improved stickiness and broader appeal versus social rivals like TikTok. Technically, Google is using these viral moments to nudge Gemini from an “assistant” toward an “operator” model: Gemini 2 is positioned as a bridge, while Project Mariner and a nascent Agent Mode demo connecting to browser/tools show the direction. VP Josh Woodward says current agents handle roughly 3–5 tasks with a few tool calls; the aim is robust agents that can reliably execute 10+ tasks and tool interactions with high accuracy. Google measures MAUs as users who open and interact (excluding trivial queries) and is considering richer success metrics—like “successful tasks completed”—to capture true utility and long-term engagement.