ChatGPT Hits 400 Million Weekly Users; GPT-5 on the Horizon

ChatGPT has surpassed 400 million weekly active users, up from 300 million in December 2024. This is a big achievement for OpenAI, as competition in the generative AI space continues to intensify following the successful launch of DeepSeek R1 and the recent release of Elon Musk’s Grok 3.

ChatGPT in the Enterprise: Adoption and Development

The corporate sector has embraced ChatGPT, with over 2 million paying businesses as of February 2025 which is double compared to September last year. Companies are increasingly integrating AI to enhance productivity and streamline operations.

Additionally, developer engagement with OpenAI’s reasoning models has intensified. According to OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, usage of OpenAI’s reasoning model API has grown fivefold since the launch of the o3 Mini model, which is designed to improve logical inference and structured problem-solving.

GPT-5 Is Almost Here—And It’s a Big Deal

The company is also working on launching its next GPT-4.5 and GPT-5 models. The latter will merge OpenAI’s GPT and o-series models into a single, more powerful system.

As Lightcap stated, “GPT-5 will unify our GPT and o-series models into a single powerful model—we think even low-taste testers will love it.” CEO Sam Altman has also hinted at this in a recent X post, where he stated, “We want AI to ‘just work’ for you; we realize how complicated our model and product offerings have gotten.”

OpenAI has not yet revealed details about the GPT-5 release. However, it is expected to arrive by late May 2025, coinciding with Microsoft’s Build developer conference, where a series of AI-related announcements are anticipated.

Competition Heats Up With New AI Rivals

However, it’s not all a piece of cake for OpenAI. The generative AI pioneer is facing stiff competition from emerging players like China’s DeepSeek and Perplexity. DeepSeek, in particular, has gained attention for offering comparable performance at a fraction of the cost, sparking discussions about the future of AI innovation. Meanwhile, training GPT-5 has been both expensive and slow, with costs estimated at approximately $500 million per six-month cycle.

With 400 million weekly users, ChatGPT remains a dominant force in the AI revolution. However, growing competition and the high costs of AI development present significant hurdles. Now, all eyes are on the upcoming GPT-5, which could redefine the future of AI as well as OpenAI.