OpenAI has reported a significant increase in the weekly active users of its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, with numbers doubling over the past year to surpass 200 million.
The San Francisco-based start-up, which has been a driving force in AI innovation since launching ChatGPT in November 2022, continues to lead the global race for advanced AI models.
CEO Sam Altman, on 29th August, confirmed the rapid growth, noting that ChatGPT had crossed 100 million weekly active users last November. OpenAI now boasts that over 90% of Fortune 500 companies are integrating its AI tools, and its automated API usage has doubled since the release of GPT-4o mini in July.
“People are using our tools now as a part of their daily lives, making a real difference in areas like healthcare and education – whether it’s helping with routine tasks, solving hard problems, or unlocking creativity,” Altman said.
OpenAI’s dominance persists even as competitors such as Anthropic, Cohere, and Google seek to establish themselves in the generative AI space. Backed by major investors including Microsoft, OpenAI’s valuation recently hit $86 billion, and ongoing talks with Thrive Capital and Microsoft may soon push that figure beyond $100 billion.
Apple, Nvidia, and New York-based venture capital firm, Thrive Capital, are reportedly set to join OpenAI’s latest funding round, with Thrive leading a $1 billion investment. Microsoft’s decision last month to relinquish its observer seat on OpenAI’s board comes amid heightened antitrust scrutiny, though the tech giant remains a critical partner.
