OpenAI said ChatGPT has reached 1.2 billion weekly active users, adding 200 million in two months, while the volume of search-like queries handled by the chatbot is now roughly one-fifth of Google’s search volume.
Adam Fry, OpenAI’s consumer product lead for ChatGPT, disclosed the figures during an OpenAI-hosted event in New York, according to Big Technology.
Fry said OpenAI counts a search when a user asks a question that triggers a web search. Writing assistance and coding tasks generally do not fall into that category. Questions about people, places, finance and health are among the uses driving more searches, he said.
He also said ChatGPT users generate approximately 1.5 billion images each week, while its voice features, including dictation and spoken conversations, have a combined 250 million weekly active users.
The growing use of ChatGPT for information-seeking questions could intensify competition for Google as both companies develop AI-powered ways to answer queries and connect users with information.