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ChatGPT is growing faster than ever. It’s now close to reaching 700 million people using it every week. Just a few months ago, it had around 500 million weekly users. A year ago, the number was only about one-fourth of what it is now. This big jump was shared by Nick Turley, who is in charge of the ChatGPT app. He posted about it on X and said the growth has been huge.
One of the biggest reasons for this sudden rise is the new image tool in GPT-4o. People went crazy over it in April when the Ghibli-style images went viral. That moment brought a lot of attention to ChatGPT. And now, with GPT-5 expected soon, even more people might start using it.
ChatGPT is also doing really well with paying users. CNBC reported that over 5 million business users are now paying for ChatGPT, up from 3 million just a few months ago. That’s helped OpenAI make more money than ever before. Its yearly income is now at $13 billion, and it might reach $20 billion by the end of the year.
OpenAI’s main competitor, Anthropic, is also generating significant revenue. Its yearly income went from $4 billion in June to $5 billion in July. Anthropic hopes to make $9 billion by the end of the year. One area where Anthropic is ahead of OpenAI is the API market. That’s the part where developers and companies pay to use the models in their tools. Right now, Anthropic is earning $3.1 billion from that, while OpenAI is earning slightly less at $2.9 billion.
Anthropic is doing well because of strong tools like Claude Sonnet 4 and Opus 4. These are often used in apps like Cursor and GitHub Copilot, especially by people who write code.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is also working to make ChatGPT more helpful and honest. In April, it had to undo a change because ChatGPT was becoming too agreeable and always saying yes to users, even when it wasn’t the right thing. Now, OpenAI is changing how the chatbot responds, especially in serious situations. It won’t give direct advice in personal matters anymore. Instead, it will help people think things through for themselves.
Another new update is about taking breaks. If you chat with ChatGPT for a long time, it may suggest taking a short break. This is meant to help people pause and reset, especially if they’ve already reached their goal in the conversation.