OpenAI’s Rapid Growth: 400 Million Users, Enterprise Expansion, and Rising Competition

According to COO Brad Lightcap, OpenAI's rapid expansion continued in February, with 400 million weekly active users, a 33% increase from December. This rise represents ChatGPT's natural adoption, with more users finding its value through word of mouth and personal experience.  

The company's enterprise segment has also experienced considerable growth, doubling to 2 million paying enterprise users since September. Many employees utilize ChatGPT individually before lobbying for its implementation in their workplaces. OpenAI's enterprise clients include big companies such as Uber, Morgan Stanley, Moderna, and T-Mobile.  

Developer traffic has also increased significantly, with a fivefold rise in usage of OpenAI's "reasoning" model o3 in the last six months. Lightcap compared OpenAI's influence to Amazon Web Services' groundbreaking role in cloud computing, implying that AI will become an indispensable backbone for organizations in the future.  

However, OpenAI is seeing increased competition, particularly from the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which frustrated tech markets in January. OpenAI has accused DeepSeek of inappropriately exploiting its models, although Lightcap claims competition has not changed OpenAI's strategy.  

On the legal front, Elon Musk has sued OpenAI for its shift to a for-profit business, while Microsoft and SoftBank continue to invest substantially. Despite Musk's offer to buy OpenAI's nonprofit assets, the business has firmly emphasized that it "is not for sale."

This Article is based on information from CNBC