Data Drop: Gen Z Leading Voice Assistant Growth

It wasn’t that long ago that talking to our digital devices seemed a novel notion. With the user base of voice assistants now on the brink of 150 million, growth has matured but there’s still room for more.

Get a sense of this year’s landscape with the five charts below. You can also explore the full dataset in our Forecasting module.

The voice assistant audience still has room for growth, on smartphones and elsewhere.

The number of US voice assistant users will surpass 145 million by the end of this year, according to our latest forecast. Smartphones lead the way, but all devices—including smart speakers, connected cars, and smart TVs—will gain over 17 million users by 2027, just over half of all internet users. New features powered by generative AI (genAI) may help draw in voice tech holdouts.

Gen Z will lead all generations in voice assistant usage by 2027.

By the end of our forecast period in 2027, Gen Z will pass their millennial cousins as the age group with the highest uptake of voice assistants. We project that about 64% of the US Gen Z population will use a voice assistant monthly in 2027, up from 51% in 2023. In terms of total users, millennials will still maintain a slight edge this year at a little over 46 million users versus Gen Z’s 45 million.

Google has the widest reach, and is gradually pulling away from Apple and Amazon.

You’re more likely to hear “Okay Google” than “Hey Siri” or “Alexa.” Google Assistant maintains its lead with more than 85 million US users this year, and that lead is growing. In 2025, Google Assistant users will reach 91.9 million, ahead of Siri’s 86.5 million and Alexa’s 77.2 million. If one of the tech giants can beat the others to the punch in adding new genAI capabilities, they could chip into that lead—or expand it.

Meanwhile, Echo’s dominance in the home voice arena has stalled.

Nearly 105 million people will use a smart speaker at least once per month in the US this year, which comes out to just over 30% of the population. While the Amazon Echo still commands a majority share, other players, including Google’s Nest family of devices, now lead the category’s growth. We project that the total smart speaker user base will hit 119.2 million in 2027, by which time Echo will reach 60.2% of those users—down from 80.8% a decade before.

Voice inquiries and audio remain the key smart speaker use cases.

Listening to music, podcasts, and other audio is the top function of smart speakers. This year’s forecasted 86 million US monthly users are expected to approach the 100 million mark by 2027. Spoken questions or making requests is a close second. Across the range of activities in our forecast, growth rates will mirror that of the overall smart speaker user base. Users who make purchases via the device—the brass ring of smart speaker monetization—will edge past 10% of the population in 2024.

To see the full interactive forecast, click here.