Report: More than 400 million users use ChatGPT every week

OpenAI says that more than 400 million users use ChatGPT every week. OpenAI Chief Operating Officer, Brad Lightcap, told CNBC that these numbers are a 33% increase from the 300 million reported in December 2024.

ChatGPT's X account also posted a message that celebrated the feat. 4e8 in scientific notation translates to 400 million.

Lightcap said in an interview with CNBC that much of ChatGPT's growth can be attributed to the "natural evolution" of the product, as more and more people find common use cases and it gets recognized by a larger audience, often driven by word-of-mouth.

“People hear about it through word of mouth. They see the utility of it. They see their friends using it, There’s an overall effect of people really wanting these tools, and seeing that these tools are really valuable.”

In addition to the rise in users, OpenAI's enterprise sector is also thriving, with the number of paying enterprise clients doubling to 2 million since September 2024. Employees who use ChatGPT in their personal lives often recommend it for organizational use, contributing to this growth. Lightcap added that there's a trend of people who already use these products and recognize the value that it adds, which further fuels user adoption in enterprises.

“We get a lot of benefits and a tailwind from the organic consumer adoption where people already have familiarity with the product. There’s really healthy growth, on a different curve.”

There's also an increase in developer engagement, which has seen a twofold rise over the past six months, and a fivefold increase in the use of OpenAI's reasoning models, like the o1 and o3, among developers. OpenAI's major enterprise clients include Uber, Morgan Stanley, Moderna, and T-Mobile.

With all of this growth, OpenAI still faces competition from new entrants like DeepSeek and Grok from xAI, which recently launched its latest reasoning model Grok 3. Despite that, Lightcap says that it doesn't affect how the company thinks about open source, and its product road map or other mega-spending plans. OpenAI had earlier announced the Stargate project where it would collectively invest $500 billion along with partners SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX, to fund data centers and other AI-related infrastructure.

Source: CNBC