Artificial Intelligence company OpenAI has hit a significant milestone after it reached 300 million weekly active users.
The surge in OpenAI active users comes after a sharp increase from 250 million users reported last week.
OpenAl has ambitious plans to expand its user base, targeting 1 billion active users next year. The artificial intelligence company is intensifying its growth strategy as it competes with Amazon-backed Anthropic, Elon Musk’s ×Al, and established tech giants like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. These players are vying for dominance in the generative Al market, which is projected to exceed $1 trillion in revenue within the next decade.
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OpenAl’s monthly revenue hit $300 million in August, up 1,700 percent since the beginning of 2023, and the company expects about $3.7 billion in annual sales this year, according to financial documents reviewed by The New York Times. OpenAl estimates that its revenue will balloon to $11.6 billion next year.
Notably, the company’s revenue in August more than tripled from a year ago, according to documents, and about 350 million people up from around 100 million in March, use its services each month as of June.
Launched in 2015, OpenAI was founded s a nonprofit organization dedicated to researching and advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The company has a long-term focus on fundamental advances in AI and its capabilities.
In March 2019, OpenAI shifted from nonprofit to capped-profit status and became formally known as OpenAI LP, controlled by parent company OpenAI Inc. Almost two years later, in January 2021, OpenAI introduced Dall-E, a generative AI model that analyzes natural language text from human users and then generates images based on what is described in the text.
In November 2022 the company released its AI Chatbot ChatGPT, which heralded as the world’s most advanced chatbot for its ability to provide answers to users on a seemingly unlimited range of topics.
ChatGPT has so far continued to enjoy rapid growth. It reached 100 million users roughly two monthsafter its initial release thanks to generative AI features that grabbed the attention of businesses and consumers. At the time, UBS analysts said they “cannot recall a faster ramp in a consumer internet app.”
According to Altman, 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies were using OpenAI products, including ChatGPT and its underlying AI model GPT-4 as of November last year. Roughly 10 million ChatGPT users pay the company a $20 monthly fee, according to documents. OpenAl expects to raise that price by $2 by the end of the year, and will aggressively raise it to $44 over the next five years, the documents said. More than one million third-party developers use OpenAI’s technology to power their services.
In 2025, OpenAI hopes to reach user numbers surpassed only by a handful of technology platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, by investing heavily in infrastructure that can improve its AI models. The company predicts its revenue will hit $100 billion in 2029, which would roughly match the current annual sales of Nestle.