ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular chatbot, is estimated to have reached 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after its launch, making it the fastest growing consumer app in the world. history, according to a UBS study on Wednesday.
The report, citing data from analytics firm Similarweb, says around 13 million unique visitors on average used ChatGPT per day in January, more than double December levels.
“In 20 years after the internet space, we cannot recall a faster rise to prominence in a consumer internet application,” the UBS analysts wrote in the note.
It took TikTok about nine months after its global launch to reach 100 million users and Instagram 2.5 years, according to data from Sensor Tower.
ChatGPT can generate articles, essays, jokes, and even poetry in response to prompts. OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft Corp, made it freely available to the public in late November.
On Thursday, OpenAI announced a $20 monthly subscription, initially for users in the US only. This would provide a more stable and faster service as well as the ability to try out new features first, the company said.
Analysts believe the viral launch of ChatGPT will give OpenAI a first-mover advantage over other AI companies. The growing usage, while imposing substantial computational costs on OpenAI, has also provided valuable insights to help train chatbot responses.
The company said subscription revenue would help cover IT costs.
The availability of the tool has raised questions about facilitating academic dishonesty and misinformation.
Last month, Microsoft announced another multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI in the form of cash and cloud computing provision.