ChatGPT's Rise: Record Growth and Earnings

OpenAI's ChatGPT is rapidly gaining traction. According to The Information, the number of paid users of the service has surged to 20 million in just three months, a 30% increase from 15.5 million at the end of last year. This indicates a growing interest in AI capabilities for coding, writing articles, and providing medical and financial advice.

ChatGPT's monthly revenue currently stands at $415 million, which translates to $5 billion annually. In addition to the standard subscription of ChatGPT Plus at $20/month, OpenAI offers a premium Pro plan at $200/month, further boosting revenue. The company also earns from its models through an API, which generated about $2 billion in 2023. If the growth trend continues, OpenAI may reach $12.7 billion in revenue by 2025, significantly exceeding the projected $4 billion in 2024.

Despite the overall growth, the share of paid users has declined from 5% to 4%. Meanwhile, the number of active users per week has increased to 500 million, up 43% from 350 million at the end of 2023.

It's worth noting that OpenAI recently completed a new funding round, raising $40 billion. This marks the largest funding round for a private tech company in history. The company's valuation now stands at $300 billion.