OpenAI's leading AI chatbot, ChatGPT, has regained strong growth momentum in the second half of 2024, according to a recent report released by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) on Thursday. The report highlights that while it took nine months for ChatGPT to grow from 100 million weekly active users in November 2023 to 200 million in August 2024, the platform doubled those figures again in under six months.
Shortly after its research preview launch in November 2022, ChatGPT became the fastest application to reach 100 million monthly active users—a milestone achieved in just two months.
By November 2023, ChatGPT reached another key milestone with 100 million weekly active users. This figure grew to 300 million by December 2024 and hit 400 million by February 2025. According to a16z, initial consumer interest in ChatGPT was largely driven by novelty. In other words, users were eager to try the app but were uncertain about how it fit into their daily lives.
However, the recent surge in ChatGPT’s growth can be attributed to the release of new models and features, including GPT-4o, which introduced multimodal capabilities. Following the launch of this model, ChatGPT usage surged between April and May 2024.
Later, usage spiked again between July and August 2024 after the introduction of the advanced voice mode. The release of the o1 model series further contributed to increased engagement during September and October 2024.
On mobile platforms, ChatGPT’s growth has been more consistent, the company noted.
In the past year, ChatGPT’s mobile app user base grew by 5% to 15% each month. Currently, 175 million out of ChatGPT’s total 400 million weekly active users access the app via mobile devices.
The report also examined the impact of competitors like DeepSeek on the market. Within just 10 days, DeepSeek rose to become the second most popular app globally and secured the second position in mobile usage by February, capturing 15% of ChatGPT’s mobile user base.
According to data from mobile intelligence provider Sensor Tower, DeepSeek users exhibited slightly higher engagement levels on mobile compared to Perplexity and Claude users. Nevertheless, it still trails behind ChatGPT in this regard.
Other findings from the new market analysis include tool recommendations for AI developers and coders, rankings of top AI apps by category and revenue, and a list of leading generative AI applications across mobile and web platforms.
In terms of unique monthly visits on the web and monthly active users on mobile, ChatGPT ranks first, as cited by market intelligence provider Similarweb in the report.
