OpenAI Reaches 400 Million Weekly Active Users
OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to grow at an impressive pace, reaching over 400 million weekly active users in February. This marks a 33% jump from December, when the company reported 300 million users. The rapid expansion highlights the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence tools, both for personal use and in business settings.
Alongside consumer adoption, OpenAI’s enterprise user base has also doubled since September, now surpassing 2 million paying business users. Many companies, including Uber, Morgan Stanley, and T-Mobile, have integrated OpenAI’s AI models into their operations. The company’s Chief Operating Officer, Brad Lightcap, attributes this success to word-of-mouth growth and users discovering new ways to incorporate AI into their daily routines.
OpenAI’s latest reasoning model, o3, has seen developer traffic quintupling in the past six months. The company is also preparing to launch GPT-4.5 and GPT-5, which will merge its GPT and o-series models into a single, more advanced system. Lightcap has hinted that GPT-5 will be available to free users with an option for enhanced intelligence for paying customers.
The growth comes at a time of intense competition, particularly from Chinese AI firm DeepSeek. The Beijing-based company launched an AI model in January that claimed to rival or surpass Western alternatives at a significantly lower cost. The news shook the tech market, with Nvidia losing nearly $600 billion in market value in a single day. OpenAI has also accused DeepSeek of improperly harvesting its models through a process called distillation.
Despite these challenges, OpenAI remains confident in its trajectory. “DeepSeek is a testament to how much AI has entered the public consciousness,” Lightcap said. “It’s a moment that shows how powerful these models are and how much people really care.”
Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, has also entered the AI race with his company xAI, which recently launched Grok 3, a model claimed to outperform OpenAI’s GPT-4o in specific benchmarks. Musk has been openly critical of OpenAI’s transition into a for-profit model and recently attempted a $97 billion takeover bid, which OpenAI rejected. “(Musk) is a competitor. He’s competing. It’s an unorthodox way of competing,” Lightcap commented.
OpenAI has also expanded internationally, securing a major partnership with SoftBank to deepen its presence in Japan. The joint venture, SB OpenAI Japan, includes a $3 billion annual investment and aims to integrate OpenAI’s technology into SoftBank’s ecosystem, including its semiconductor and digital payment businesses.
Additionally, OpenAI has secured its first U.S. federal agency customer, USAID, which plans to use ChatGPT Enterprise to streamline operations and reduce administrative burdens. This signals OpenAI’s growing foothold in government applications, an area historically slow to adopt AI due to regulatory concerns.
As OpenAI prepares to release GPT-5, it faces increasing pressure to maintain its lead. With DeepSeek offering low-cost alternatives, Google advancing its Gemini models, and Musk pushing xAI’s Grok 3, competition in the AI space is fiercer than ever. However, OpenAI’s surging user base suggests that it remains the dominant force in generative AI—at least for now.
The coming year will determine whether OpenAI can sustain its growth and innovation or if a new player will disrupt the balance of power in the AI industry.
