Overview

• New reporting describes rapid adoption, with Bible Chat surpassing 30 million downloads and Hallow briefly topping Apple’s App Store ahead of Netflix, Instagram, and TikTok.
• Many apps sell subscriptions of up to about $70 per year, and some market experiences that suggest direct divine communication.
• These services run on large language models fine-tuned on scripture, generating plausible text rather than offering supernatural or sentient guidance.
• Researchers and industry figures caution that affirmation bias turns chatbots into “yes men,” potentially misleading vulnerable users and avoiding hard counsel.
• Clergy and users cite convenience and nonjudgmental responses, while warning that intimate confessions may become data accessible on corporate servers.