According to SimilarWeb, the widely-used chatbot ChatGPT experienced a decline in monthly website attendance for the first time in June. Data from SimilarWeb showed that global visits to both the computer and mobile versions of the site dropped by 9.7% in June compared to May, and the time spent by visitors browsing the site decreased by 8.5%. The developer of the chatbot, OpenAI, did not respond to a request for comment.
ChatGPT has caused a surge in the use of generative AI for daily tasks ranging from traditional writing to code generation and recorded up to 100 million active users monthly in January, just two months after its launch.
**Fastest-Growing Application**
ChatGPT is the fastest-growing application ever released to users, boasting 1.5 billion visits a month, and is among the top 20 websites globally. For instance, visits to ChatGPT significantly surpassed those of the Bing search engine, which is operated by Microsoft, a supporter of OpenAI that uses its technologies. Several competing applications to ChatGPT have been launched in recent months, including the Bard chatbot owned by Google. Microsoft’s Bing also offers a free chatbot developed by OpenAI.
Sarah Hendleian-Pauler, Head of Technology Research for the Americas at Macquarie, stated, "I believe there are increasing difficulties in reaching 100 million users from scratch that quickly. The heavy infrastructure will yield less accuracy. It’s a mix of needing to change what the model was trained on and managing potential regulatory implications."
**Potential Decline Factors**
OpenAI also released the ChatGPT app on Apple's iOS in May, which may draw some visitors away from the website. Additionally, some link the change in user numbers to the summer school holidays, as fewer students are likely to seek homework help during this time. By July 4, the chatbot had been downloaded over 17 million times worldwide, according to DataAI. The analytics company noted that downloads peaked on May 31, and the chatbot is still seeing significant engagement in the U.S., averaging 530,000 downloads weekly in its first six weeks.
The recent slowdown in growth may help control the operating costs of ChatGPT, which requires substantial computing resources to answer queries. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman described the operating costs as "astronomical." The ChatGPT app is free to use, but it also offers a premium subscription that allows users to pay $20 a month to access the more advanced model, GPT-4. An estimated over half a million people have subscribed to the service in the U.S., according to estimates from the site UpItData.
OpenAI expects to generate revenues of $200 million this year. In addition to ChatGPT, the company earns money by selling access to its AI models through APIs to developers and businesses directly, as well as through a partnership with Microsoft, which has invested over ten billion dollars in the startup.
