ChatGPT announces it will pass 700 million weekly users this week
Aug. 4 (UPI) -- ChatGPT is on track to have 700 million weekly active users this week, the company said.
At the end of March, the app had reached 500 million weekly active users, said Nick Turley, OpenAI VP and head of ChatGPT, on X. He said the app has grown fourfold since last year.
"Every day, people and teams are learning, creating, and solving harder problems. Big week ahead. Grateful to the team for making ChatGPT more useful and delivering on our mission so everyone can benefit from AI," he posted.
The figure includes all ChatGPT AI products, including free, professional, school and others. It also passed 3 billion daily messages, and there are now 5 million paying business users.
ChatGPT's popularity increased in March after OpenAI launched an upgraded image generation feature, powered by the GPT-4 model. In April, COO Brad Lightcap said on X that more than 130 million users had created over 700 million images in just a few days after the launch.
In a recent report, market intelligence firm Sensor Tower noted that users are using ChatGPT for more than 12 days a month on average, only behind Google and X. The report said that in the first half of 2025, users spent an average of 16 minutes per day on the app.
Last week, Open AI announced that the company secured $8.3 billion from a group of top investors.
The investment is part of a SoftBank-led $40 billion fundraising round, according to a person familiar with the deal, CNBC reported. The raise was finished ahead of schedule and was five times oversubscribed. Open AI's annual recurring revenue is at $13 billion, and the company is on track to pass $20 billion by the year's end.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
14 minutes ago
- CNBC
Gen AI is coming for online checkout in seismic shift for internet shopping
In the world of online payments, the buzzword these days is frictionless, as companies entice customers with increasingly convenient online payment options. Think the online equivalent of a biometric handwave: the fewer steps involved, the more customers will buy, experts say. With that aim in mind, the growing presence of generative AI such as ChatGPT in the shopping ecosystem may next take a shape that has a seismic impact on the economic model of internet retail. Currently, a search for a large London Fog men's coat on ChatGPT will bring up a purchase option, but you still have to click over to London Fog's site to complete the transaction. But that may soon change. Gen AI search engine Perplexity already has a deal with PayPal for this kind of function, allowing online shoppers to make purchases such as concert tickets and travel directly in chat, with payments completed with PayPal or Venmo, and PayPal handling the processing, shipping, tracking, and invoicing. The Financial Times reported last month that an integrated checkout system is coming to ChatGPT, with partners such as Shopify, so that users can complete the transaction within the platform. Merchants will pay a commission to OpenAI. OpenAI and Shopify have not confirmed the plans. The AI company has already worked with Shopify on an AI assistant for internet sales. OpenAI has already rolled out several features designed to enhance shopping and other consumer experiences, and experts say that in one form or another, this further use of gen AI in retail's future should be expected, and companies need to be planning for the consequences today. "Enabling customers to purchase without leaving the chat will have a significant impact on the sales cycle," said Elizabeth Perkins, professor of practice of business administration and economics at Roanoke College. But she added that from a marketing perspective, any time you consolidate or eliminate a part of the purchase cycle, you get your customer that much closer to spending money. "No more time-consuming steps. Customers get what they want faster, with less hassle, and honestly, with less chance of changing their mind," Perkins said. Perikins says that payment interfaces like Venmo or Apple Pay could be disrupted. But Paul McAdam, J.D. Power's senior director of banking intelligence, says he thinks that while AI checkout capabilities will disrupt the checkout ecosystem, big players will find a way to stay in the game. "This is one more competitor looking for a slice of the pie. It will be fascinating to see how banks react to this. There will be a shakeout," but he added, "PayPal, Apple, and Google are pretty entrenched, so I don't think they are going anywhere. This will affect the upstarts the most, some of which will probably get gobbled up by larger competitors." At eBay, AI checkout is not being viewed as a threat, but as a sign of further innovation in the industry. "AI is proving great at speeding up workflows and generating ideas. We believe the true magic lies in blending that speed and scale with trusted, expert, enthusiast communities," said Blair Ethington, vice president of the company's focus categories and buyer experience division. Ethington says that eBay will be investing heavily in an increased AI experience at checkout that delivers real-time, hyper-personalized product picks and guidance tuned to each buyer's shopping preferences. "Ultimately, we believe our scale, unique inventory, and trusted community position us extremely well to thrive in an agentic commerce future," Ethington said. PayPal pointed to its deal with Perplexity as a sign of its embrace of the gen AI feature rather than viewing it as a threat. "We're partnering with some of the biggest players in this space, like Perplexity, to deliver personalized, secure, and seamless payments and commerce experiences to our network of more than 400 million consumers and merchants worldwide," said a PayPal spokesperson. In one form or another, the checkout experience online is ripe for change, according to Dee Waddell, global managing director of travel & transportation industries at IBM. "Consumers are no longer satisfied with the status quo," said Waddell, citing a recent IBM study that shows only 14% of consumers say they're satisfied with their e-commerce experience. "They're demanding seamless, hyper-personalized experiences across every touchpoint, and retailers must lean into AI to meet those expectations," Waddell said. IBM's retail clients are prioritizing AI to deliver a seamless experience throughout the entire customer journey. "I believe we're on the cusp of a revolution, where generative AI platforms like ChatGPT will act as 'personal assistants' to streamline the digital shopping experience from product discovery to fulfillment," Waddell said. The online shopping experience of the future could feature a consumer going into ChatGPT or Anthropic's Claude to ask for gift ideas. Then, Waddell says, without ever leaving the chat, they'll receive personalized recommendations, confirm their payment method easily, verify their shipping address, and complete the purchase. "In this new model, the AI personal assistant becomes the marketplace. This means retailers will need to solidify their ecosystem and channel strategies," Waddell said, adding that companies will either need to partner with channel providers that want to work with generative AI companies or go directly to AI providers themselves. "This will be a key part of staying relevant and delivering the integrated shopping experiences that consumers are demanding," Waddell said. Alex Graf, co-founder and CEO of digital commerce platform Spryker and author ofThe E-Commerce Book," says this is the beginning of a seismic shift in how people will shop online. But he says the focus on the threat to payment processors misses the biggest disruptive outcome from the shift. "We're witnessing a structural shift in the e-commerce value chain, and ChatGPT is right at the center of it. The old game was about who could close the sale. The new game is about who controls the pre-sale and gets the user's attention first," Graf said, adding that this is where the LLMs will disrupt the incumbents. Increasingly, Graf says, it will be ChatGPT and Claude that will guide discovery, curate choices, and compress decision-making for customers. "For ecommerce players who've relied on 'watch time' to keep users browsing, like Amazon, Etsy, or even Shopify storefronts, this is an existential threat," Graf said. "Users who previously started their search on e-commerce platforms are now starting with AI. And here's the kicker: selling the product isn't where the margin is anymore. It's selling the eyeballs," Graf said, noting that ads that appear inside ecommerce ecosystems have become a $50 billion market globally. "Amazon's most profitable business isn't Prime or AWS, it's retail media," Graf said. Amazon is investing heavily in its own generative AI features for shopping and has made significant investments in gen AI companies including Anthropic. Graf says that when a gen AI like ChatGPT becomes the "new homepage" of commerce, it doesn't need to sell products directly. "It just needs to own the watch time, then monetize via paid placements, affiliate links, and product recommendations, just like Amazon does internally. This re-routes billions in potential retail media revenue toward whoever owns that conversational layer," Graf said. Amazon's ads business has been a bright spot within earnings in recent quarters. Graf says fintech players like PayPal or Zelle, the online payment app run by a consortium of major banks, will be impacted, but indirectly. Once ChatGPT, or similar AI agents, corner end-to-end shopping, there's less space for third-party payment tools. "Integrated systems or AI-native wallets may eat that slice of the pie over time," Graf said. The ultimate winners, he says, will be those who can monetize attention and intention, not just transactions.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
I Asked ChatGPT How the ‘Big Beautiful Bill' Will Affect Social Security Taxes — Here's What It Said
As the 'Big Beautiful Bill' is reportedly tied to proposed sweeping reforms of federal taxation and entitlement programs, many Americans are wondering: What does it mean for Social Security, especially the taxes that fund it? I asked ChatGPT to break down what the Big Beautiful Bill meant for Social Security Taxes — here's what it said. Read Next: For You: What Is the 'Big Beautiful Bill'? Essentially, this bill is aimed at overhauling the tax system, cutting government spending and possibly reforming entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. Trending Now: Could It Affect Social Security Taxes? According to ChatGPT, any major tax overhaul could impact how Social Security is funded in several ways below. Raising or Eliminating the Payroll Tax Cap Currently, only wages up to $168,600 (as of 2024) are subject to the 6.2% Social Security tax. The 'Big Beautiful Bill' proposes eliminating this cap, requiring high earners to contribute more, a change that could extend the life of the Social Security trust fund. Changing the Tax Rate The bill could mean an increase in the Social Security tax rate for workers and employers alike. Even a small rate bump would generate billions in revenue but could face stiff opposition. Means-Testing or Changing Benefit Formulas Instead of raising taxes, the bill may reduce future benefits for high-income retirees or change how cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated, indirectly affecting how much taxpayers benefit from the system they fund. What Should Workers Expect? The 'Big Beautiful Bill' raises real questions about the future of Social Security funding. If you're a working American, especially under 50, it's smart to stay informed and prepare for potential changes in how much you contribute and what you can expect in return. Editor's note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on More From GOBankingRates 5 Ways Trump Signing the GENIUS Act Could Impact Retirees6 Big Shakeups Coming to Social Security in 2025 This article originally appeared on I Asked ChatGPT How the 'Big Beautiful Bill' Will Affect Social Security Taxes — Here's What It Said Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Verge
44 minutes ago
- The Verge
The next big AI model is here
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 93, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, I'm sad the sun is setting sooner, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I'm reading about the rise of GEO, laughing at Kirby's new shapes, acknowledging Google's good dunk on Apple, thinking of the best Wordle puzzle I can make, wondering if I'll ever see Microsoft's Windows XP-themed Crocs out in the wild, following the progress of The Bluesky Dictionary, and watching Antoni Porowski's excellent Architectural Digest Open Door episode. I also have for you some AI news from OpenAI, a bug-filled new season of Fortnite, a Site of the Year competition, and more. (As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What do you want to know more about? What awesome tricks do you know that everyone else should? What app should everyone be using? Tell me everything: [email protected]. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.) Today, I'm featuring Siri Ramos, the founder of Mechanism, which makes mounts and grips for handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch 2. I unexpectedly met Siri at a recent Triple Click live recording, and I reached out because I thought he might have an interesting homescreen. My hunch was right — I'll let him share more: 'A few months ago I realized how much time I was wasting on my phone and decided to make it less appealing and more functional. Instead of buying a minimal phone like the Light Phone, I decided to convert my iPhone 14 Pro into a dopamine-reduced version to test. I also use a matte screen protector to complete the Light phone look, which is surprisingly cool. The phone: iPhone 14 Pro The wallpaper: A boring grey to mimic the Light Phone The lockscreen apps: The main homescreen apps: The homescreen apps on page two: The docked apps: I used a minimal black icon pack mixed with Siri shortcuts, except for the Superhuman email app. I also asked Siri to share a few things he's into right now. Here's what he said: Here's what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you're into right now as well! Email [email protected] with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we'll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on The Verge, this post on Threads, and this post on Bluesky. 'For the first time in a few years I'm playing around with some embedded programming platforms, specifically Arduino and the Pi Pico. It's amazing that I can get a computer more powerful than the desktop I owned in high school for less than ten dollars.' — Matthew 'Just got my new CRKD guitar, loving it, and diving back into Clone Hero and YARG, the modern open source versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. And great timing, Red Octane is back to make a new rhythm game!' — Bruno 'I'm deeply impressed by the Lord of the Rings audiobook by Andy Serkis. It's insane how differently the characters sound (and how similar to movies).' — Jakub 'This week I took control of my RSS reader by moving from Inoreader to a self-hosted Miniflux instance. It was actually super easy to get working, and it's cool to be able to use different third-party native apps again. It feels like I'm back in the good ol' Google Reader days again.' — gnu_slash_dhruv 'I've been watching Superman: The Animated Series on HBO Max. I love how the series makes the most of its sci-fi premise, alongside compelling cinematography and stirring music. Highly recommend!' — Blue Savoy 'This video from Julian O'Shea about cars getting huge is extremely well done, and the part about pedestrian fatalities is legitimately moving. If you're in need of lighter fare, CityNerd's new video about the Vegas Loop being pathetically stupid is a great follow up piece.' — cowboyxboombap 'I use a mostly-QWERTY layout, but have a ZSA Moonlander keyboard and have customized it to my programmer/game tastes. I can actually touch-type now with this keyboard. It folds up so well that I travel with it all the time, and it gets comments every time I use it. — Ron 'I'd like to recommend Apocalypse Hotel! It's a charming anime about a group of robots running a hotel long after humanity left the planet. It's got a lovely bittersweet but optimistic mood to it as they wait patiently for humanity to return. And it's quite funny as well.' — Graham Thanks to everyone who wrote in their stories of alternate keyboard layouts. There's a fair few Dvorak users out there, but I heard from a fellow Colemak typist and even a Norman user! If you're interested in trying an alternate keyboard, I actually recommend the challenge — it's a fun way to re-wire your computer brain. (And maybe give yourself a chance to fix some bad typing habits.) Also thank you very much to Troy, who, in response to my comment about considering a TV on wheels, shared the setup he uses. 'If you are interested in a rolling TV, what we did was purchase a rolling TV stand from Amazon for $99, a 43-inch TCL Roku TV, and a $20 cover. Works great, we use it all over the house and backyard.' If I had more closet space to 'store' our TV when we weren't using it, I would have ordered a cart and a cover yesterday. Someday, though, I'm sure I'm going to end up trying to live this life. See you next week! Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Jay Peters Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Installer Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
