According to Sensor Tower market-research estimates published in early June and reported by CNBC, ChatGPT has surpassed one billion monthly active users. OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022; Sensor Tower’s estimate implies the service reached this milestone in roughly three and a half years, setting a new speed record for user growth. By comparison, Google Maps took five years to reach one billion active users.
Rivals and growth rates
OpenAI said in a February statement that its monthly web and mobile visits are more than six times those of the second-largest AI platform. Sensor Tower’s data, however, show that competing language models are growing faster in percentage terms: Claude and Meta AI recorded year-over-year user growth of 640 percent and 973 percent respectively, while ChatGPT’s growth was 62 percent.
Claude is operated by Anthropic, a company founded by the Amodei brothers after they left OpenAI reportedly over concerns that OpenAI deprioritized safeguards to accelerate growth. Sensor Tower noted that in the same weekend when the defense deal became a focal point, Claude’s downloads surged to the top of the App Store charts.
Defense deal and fallout
In February, OpenAI signed an agreement with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to deploy some of its models, a move that generated public concern. Abe Yousef, Sensor Tower’s lead analyst, told CNBC that their data showed a 295 percent increase in the number of people who removed the app the day after the agreement was announced. The Pentagon had been in a dispute with Anthropic earlier because Anthropic did not agree to let the department use its models “within legal frameworks”; the Pentagon subsequently reached an agreement with OpenAI and later blacklisted Anthropic.
IPO plans and public sentiment
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are preparing for public listings: OpenAI filed its IPO application in the United States earlier in the week referenced in the report, and Anthropic had submitted a similar filing a week earlier. It is not yet decided when their shares will begin trading.
Public concern over AI is visible beyond markets: the article notes that at the end of May, Pope Leo called for the disarmament of artificial intelligence. Despite growing negative sentiment, industry observers quoted by CNBC say there are no clear signs of adoption slowing. A Sensor Tower analyst told CNBC that while negative views of AI are undeniably rising, consumers are nonetheless using these platforms more and increasingly relying on them.
Why this matters
Reaching one billion monthly active users marks a major milestone in mainstream adoption of AI applications and indicates rapid integration of large language models into consumer services. At the same time, the pace of growth raises regulatory, ethical and security questions, particularly in light of military partnerships and corporate governance decisions.
(Data and claims are based on Sensor Tower estimates and reporting by CNBC.)
