In the recently released State of AI – Report 2025 by Sensor Tower, AI Hay – an AI-powered Q&A social platform developed by Vietnamese engineers – became the only Southeast Asian representative to break into the top 5 AI apps.

AI Hay is the first and largest homegrown AI Q&A social network in Vietnam.

According to Sensor Tower’s rankings for the first half of 2025, AI Hay was the only generative AI app from Southeast Asia to make the top 5 in terms of downloads and monthly active users (MAU) in Vietnam. It followed major global platforms such as Google Gemini, DeepSeek, and Adobe Acrobat.

The annual State of AI – Report 2025, published by Sensor Tower, presents a comprehensive view of AI application growth in the first half of the year, focusing on two primary dimensions: AI in mobile (demand, behavior, MAU, downloads) and AI in digital advertising (user acquisition investment trends, conversion efficiency, and creative optimization).

The report’s methodology is based on Sensor Tower’s independently measured data, including MAU, installs, retention, and usage signals from the App Store and Google Play.

Findings show an explosive rise in generative AI applications. Leading tech providers are continuously launching updates, adding features, and expanding ecosystems to attract users. As a result, app downloads and revenue saw sharp increases during the first half of 2025.

Once considered specialized tools, AI apps have rapidly become mainstream. Users now actively engage with AI assistants for work, study, content creation, and entertainment. Usage frequency and engagement time have steadily risen each quarter.

The report also highlighted the growing presence of AI across various sectors-from education and content media to personal finance and workplace productivity-as businesses aggressively digitize operations and prioritize automation experiences.

In this context, the pressure to "innovate or be left behind" has intensified. Apps that only promote features struggle to retain users. Leading platforms are instead shifting focus toward authentic user experiences, with feature roadmaps tailored to the specific needs of each user group, from students to working professionals.

AI Hay’s appearance in Sensor Tower’s top 5 (by MAU and downloads) reflects its sustainable growth in three core areas: organic user expansion rather than reliance on paid advertising, user retention thanks to culturally relevant and language-tailored experiences, and data reliability validated by an independent and trusted analytics firm.

This serves as an objective endorsement of AI Hay’s product strategy, which emphasizes real-world utility. It also lays the groundwork for expanding the app’s feature ecosystem and global partnerships in the next phase.

Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Chief Operating Officer of AI Hay, shared: “Making it into Sensor Tower’s rankings is a small but meaningful milestone for the AI Hay team. This achievement isn’t our destination but rather proof that focusing on the real needs of Vietnamese users is the right path. We’re in a game where global giants with resources hundreds of times larger are competing. So instead of trying to match them on all fronts, AI Hay chooses to deeply understand and serve Vietnamese users-whether it’s students looking for the latest admissions info or civil servants working with up-to-date government regulations. These ‘battles’ may be small, but they create real value. More importantly, we know this is just the beginning. The journey ahead is long, with many challenges-but also many opportunities to do better.”

AI Hay is Vietnam’s first and largest AI Q&A social platform, with over 15 million downloads and a current top ranking in the “Education” category on both the App Store and Google Play. The app combines AI with user communities to build a reliable, transparent knowledge base tailored to Vietnamese culture.

Thai Khang