The flagship AI chatbot from OpenAI ChatGPT has experienced a resurgence in user growth in the latter half of 2024, according to a report released on Thursday by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
The report highlights that while ChatGPT took nine months to grow from 100 million weekly active users in November 2023 to 200 million in August 2024, the chatbot has now doubled those numbers in under six months, reaching 400 million by February 2025.
Since its initial release as a research preview in November 2022, ChatGPT has seen exponential adoption. It became the fastest app ever to reach 100 million monthly active users within two months. By November 2023, it had 100 million weekly active users, a number that climbed to 300 million by December 2024 before hitting 400 million earlier this year.
The report attributes ChatGPT’s initial popularity to its novelty, with many users exploring the technology without a clear understanding of its long-term utility. However, more recent growth has been driven by technological advancements, including the launch of GPT-4o, which introduced multimodal capabilities.
Following the release of this model, ChatGPT usage surged between April and May 2024. The introduction of Advanced Voice Mode in July 2024 further boosted engagement, while the o1 model series contributed to additional growth from September to October 2024.
The report also underscores steady growth in ChatGPT’s mobile usage, where user numbers have consistently increased by 5% to 15% each month. 175 million of its 400 million weekly active users access the app on mobile devices.
Competition in the AI chatbot space is intensifying, with the emergence of rivals like DeepSeek. The report notes that DeepSeek climbed to the No. 2 spot globally in just 10 days and captured 15% of ChatGPT’s mobile user base by February 2025.
Mobile intelligence data from Sensor Tower suggests that DeepSeek users show higher engagement levels than those of competing AI chatbots like Perplexity and Claude, though ChatGPT remains the dominant player.
