More AIs
At a glance
In this course we mostly talk about ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, because these are the best-known names right now and the easiest to start with. But there are actually many more AI assistants out there. They do roughly the same kind of work — answering questions, writing text, explaining things. You don't need to learn them all — learn one or two well and you can start getting things done with AI. This page is just to satisfy your curiosity, so that when you hear another name somewhere, you have a rough idea what it is.
First, one important thing
This page doesn't mention any app's price, how much you get for free, or which features it has or doesn't have, because these change often. And we won't call any app "the best" here either. To get real, up-to-date information about an app, the most reliable way is to open the app and look for yourself.
A few familiar general AI assistants
These apps can be used for all kinds of everyday jobs — questions and answers, writing, explaining things — just like ChatGPT or Gemini. Each one gets a short, neutral introduction below — we're not saying which is better or worse.
ChatGPT
An AI chat app made by a company called OpenAI. One of the first apps of this kind to become widely known.
Gemini
An AI assistant made by Google. A familiar name for people who already have a Google account (Gmail).
Claude
An AI assistant made by a company called Anthropic. Many people know it for reading and understanding text, and for writing.
Microsoft Copilot
An AI assistant made by Microsoft. As the name suggests, the idea is to work alongside you and help with your tasks.
Meta AI
An AI assistant made by a company called Meta. Meta also runs Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and this AI is known inside those apps too.
Grok
An AI assistant made by a company called xAI (from 2026, xAI is part of SpaceX). It's closely linked with the X platform (formerly Twitter).
DeepSeek
An AI assistant made by a company in China. Some of its models got a lot of attention because they were released openly.
Perplexity
An AI assistant that is best known for showing the sources or links for its information along with the answer.
There are plenty of other names too, and new ones keep joining the list. To choose a tool for a specific job — such as writing, translation or making images — take a look at the AI Tools Guide for ideas.
What an open model is
In the AI world you sometimes hear names like Llama, Mistral and Qwen. These are a different kind of thing: they aren't apps, but AI models, which the companies that made them have opened up for everyone. Put simply — some companies share how their AI models are built, so that anyone else can use them to build their own apps. Other companies keep their models closed or limited, and only let you use them inside their own apps. As an everyday user, you don't need to worry much about this — you just open an app and ask your question, and it's fine not to know whether the model behind it is open or closed.
New AIs will keep coming
A new AI app or a new name shows up almost every month. This area is still changing fast, so that's normal. If you hear a new name and think "I didn't even know about this one", there's no reason to feel left behind — most AI apps work in roughly the same way, so once you learn to use one well, it's easy to get the hang of any new one.