Tech giant Google has officially introduced a mobile version of its Gemini AI chatbot to Hong Kong users, with the service swiftly topping Apple’s app store chart.

The roll-out on Thursday followed Google’s announcement last week that it would gradually introduce its generative AI services to Hong Kong, starting with Gemini web services before launching a mobile version.

The popular AI product was previously unavailable to the general public of Hong Kong, and accessible only to some local businesses, developers, educators and students.

The ban had forced many residents to use virtual private networks or third-party platforms to bypass regional geofencing, as developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic blocked local IP addresses due to regulatory and compliance uncertainties.

Gemini is a multimodal AI tool that allows users to interact through text, images and audio. It features generative capabilities for multimedia content – including images and music tracks – that Google has said will empower creators and students to “easily express their creativity”.

The app was the top downloaded product of Apple’s app store as of Friday morning.