GOOGLE’S RECENT STUDY SAYS 60% INDIANS ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH AI AND ONLY 31 PERCENT HAVE TRIED GENERATIVE AI (April 27, 2025)

Authored by Mr. Abhishek (Student of Symbiosis Law school, Noida)

A recent study conducted by research firm Kantar in collaboration with Google India unveils shocking statistics on the adoption of Generative AI in India. The report says that, majority of Indians are still unfamiliar with the technology, revealing that over 60 per cent of Indians are not familiar with AI and only 31 per cent have tried any generative AI tool. The findings were released during Google’s first-ever Gemini Day in India, held in New Delhi on Friday, April 25, 2025. The study highlights that while the global conversation around AI intensifies, India remains in the early stages of mass adoption.

 

Survey Details and Methodology

The Google-Kantar study surveyed 8,000 Indians between the ages of 18 and 44, from tier 1 and tier 2 cities. The research is based on face-to-face interviews with participants from two socioeconomic classes of households. The study was divided into two phases: Phase 1 measured awareness and adoption of AI tools among 5,133 respondents, and Phase 2 assessed the impact of Google’s Gemini on 3,415 respondents.

The survey was conducted prior to the full rollout of the latest Gemini 2.5 models, and it paints a detailed picture of the current AI adoption landscape in the country.

 

Gemini Day: Showcasing New Innovations

At the event, Google demonstrated a series of cutting-edge features from the Gemini AI family. These included the Veo 2 text-to-video generator, Gemini Live with Video, Gemini Canvas, Deep Research, and Audio Overviews.

Manish Gupta, Senior Director at Google DeepMind, shared insights into the progress being made in localizing AI for the Indian context. “Gemini Live already works in nine Indian languages. Under the covers, my team has been hard at work at making it understand over 100 Indian languages. In fact, we’ve been developing benchmarks that we’ve been sharing with the community. And our benchmarks show that it is the best model bar none, when it comes to the whole range of something like 29 Indian languages,” Gupta said.

 

Gemini 2.5: Key Technological Advancements

Highlighting the technical prowess of Gemini 2.5, Gupta emphasized the model’s ability to handle long-form content. He explained, “Gemini 2.5 also has advanced coding capabilities […] It can process an entire series of novels, two-hour long videos, or large code repositories and still keep track of details that are buried in that long-form content,” underscoring the depth and flexibility of the updated model.

These capabilities are expected to play a crucial role in expanding the use cases of AI in India, particularly in sectors like education, content creation, and enterprise solutions.

 

Massive Potential for Growth

The findings suggest a massive headroom for AI adoption in India. With only 31 per cent of the surveyed individuals having ever used generative AI tools, the majority of the population remains a largely untapped market.

Despite the relatively low adoption rates, the impact on existing users has been overwhelmingly positive. As per the study, over 93 per cent of Gemini users reported a boost in productivity. Furthermore, 95 per cent of users said that Gemini helped spark their creativity.

The report further states, “Furthermore, 80 per cent report Gemini has helped with complex decision-making or expert guidance, 69 per cent say it supported their skill development and learning journey, and 77 per cent found it helped them pursue a new creative or professional pursuit.”

 

Gemini’s Growing Global Reach

While the study did not specify the number of Gemini users in India, recent public reports indicate that the AI tool has amassed 350 million users globally. This marks a significant milestone for Google’s AI platform, especially given that Gemini is still trailing behind its competitors.

By comparison, OpenAI’s ChatGPT reported around 600 million monthly active users (MAUs) in March 2025, and Meta AI is estimated to have about 500 million MAUs.

Nevertheless, the rapid growth of Gemini highlights the increasing acceptance and curiosity surrounding AI technologies worldwide, including emerging markets like India.

 

Future Prospects

The insights presented during Gemini Day indicate a strong commitment from Google to drive AI adoption in India. With features like multilingual support, long-context understanding, and enhanced coding skills, Gemini aims to become a cornerstone for India’s digital transformation.

As India continues to embrace technological advancements, the focus will likely shift towards education, accessibility, and real-world applications to accelerate the mainstream adoption of AI.

 

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