ChatGPT rockets to 700 million weekly users

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OpenAI's ChatGPT has hit 700 million weekly active users, up from 500 million in March, more than quadrupling year-over-year, the company said Monday. 

Daily user messages have surged past 3 billion, and growth is accelerating compared to last year’s pace.

"Every day, people and teams are learning, creating, and solving harder problems," said Nick Turley, ChatGPT’s VP of product.

The boom spans all tiers — Free, Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu — and includes 5 million paying business users, up from 3 million in June, as AI adoption deepens across workplaces and classrooms.

But OpenAI still trails Google's AI Overviews, which now reaches 2 billion monthly users, and Gemini, with 450 million monthly active users, according to CEO Sundar Pichai.

This milestone comes days after OpenAI secured USD 8.3 billion from backers like Dragoneer, Andreessen Horowitz, and Sequoia, part of a USD 40 billion SoftBank-led raise that was five times oversubscribed.

Annual recurring revenue has jumped to $13 billion, up from USD 10 billion in June, with projections to top $20 billion by year-end — even as OpenAI reportedly eyes a $300B valuation.

To meet demand, the company’s Stargate venture with SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX is planning a USD 500 billion AI infrastructure buildout over the next four years.

Perplexity AI has over 10 million monthly users, as of July, while Anthropic's Claude has around 30 million.