india leads the way on google’s nano banana with a local creative twist

Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image – Nano Banana – Gains Traction in India

The launch of Google’s Nano Banana image-generation model, formally known as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, has significantly boosted the popularity of the Gemini app worldwide. However, its impact has been particularly notable in India, where unique creative applications and viral trends have emerged.

India Leads in Nano Banana Usage

Currently, India stands as the leading country in terms of Nano Banana utilization, as confirmed by David Sharon, multimodal generation lead for Gemini Apps at Google DeepMind. This popularity has propelled the Gemini app to the top of both the App Store and Google Play’s free app charts within India.

Unique Local Trends

While India’s large smartphone market and online population contribute to its high adoption rate, Google is particularly intrigued by *how* users are engaging with the AI model. Millions of Indians are employing Nano Banana in ways that are distinctly local, remarkably creative, and often unexpected.

Retro Bollywood and the “AI Saree”

A prominent trend involves recreating retro aesthetics inspired by 1990s Bollywood films. Users are visualizing themselves as they might have appeared during that era, complete with authentic fashion, hairstyles, and makeup.

A related trend, dubbed the “AI saree,” sees users generating vintage-style portraits of themselves adorned in traditional Indian attire.

Landmarks and Creative Transformations

Indian users are also generating selfies set against backdrops of famous cityscapes and iconic landmarks, such as Big Ben and classic U.K. telephone booths.

Beyond this, experimentation with Nano Banana includes transforming objects, creating time-travel effects, and reimagining users as vintage postage stamps. Many are also generating black-and-white portraits or visualizing encounters with their younger selves.

Global Trend Amplification

While some trends didn’t originate in India, the country has played a crucial role in amplifying their global reach. The figurine trend, where users generate miniature versions of themselves, initially surfaced in Thailand and Indonesia before gaining worldwide traction through India.

Veo 3 and Family History

In addition to Nano Banana, Google has noted Indian users leveraging its Veo 3 AI video-generation model to create short videos from old photographs of their grandparents and great-grandparents.

App Download Statistics

This surge in activity has significantly boosted Gemini’s popularity on app stores in India. From January to August, the app averaged 1.9 million monthly downloads – approximately 55% higher than in the U.S. This represents 16.6% of global monthly downloads.

Total downloads in India reached 15.2 million by August, compared to 9.8 million in the U.S. during the same period.

Following the Nano Banana update on September 1, daily downloads in India experienced a substantial increase, starting with 55,000 installs. Downloads peaked at 414,000 on September 13 – a 667% increase – with Gemini securing the top position on both the iOS App Store (since September 10) and Google Play (since September 12).

Monetization and Growth

Despite leading in downloads, India doesn’t currently top the charts for in-app purchases on Gemini. Global consumer spending on iOS has reached an estimated $6.4 million, with the U.S. accounting for $2.3 million (35%) and India contributing $95,000 (1.5%).

However, India demonstrated a record 18% month-over-month growth in spending, reaching $13,000 between September 1 and 16 – exceeding the 11% global increase and significantly outpacing the U.S. growth of under 1%.

Privacy and Safety Considerations

Concerns regarding users uploading personal photos to Gemini for appearance transformations have also surfaced. Google aims to fulfill user requests without presuming intent, and has been actively improving its systems to address these concerns.

Watermarking and Detection Tools

Google applies a visible, diamond-shaped watermark to images generated by Nano Banana. Furthermore, a hidden marker is embedded using its SynthID tool to identify AI-generated content. SynthID enables Google to detect and flag images created with its models.

The company is currently testing a detection platform with trusted testers and plans to launch a consumer-facing version allowing anyone to verify if an image is AI-generated.

“We are still in the early stages of development and are continuously learning,” Sharon stated. “User feedback, along with input from experts and researchers, is crucial for ongoing improvement.”