Just hours after Grok 3 won the top spot from ChatGpt on the Apple App Store, Openai’s rapid growth has seen the world’s most popular AI, despite the growing competition from China’s Deepseek and Elon Musk’s Xai Grok It suggests that the company is not slowing down.
In an interview with CNBC, Openai’s Chief Operating Officer Brad LightCap shared that Openai had reached 400 million active users per week as of February. This is a 33% jump from the 300 million reported in December, a figure that has not been released so far.
“People hear about it through word of mouth. They see its usefulness. LightCap told CNBC, adding that it takes time for individuals to find use cases that resonate with. “We’ve got these tools out there. It has the overall effect of those who really want it, and I think these tools are really valuable.”
Are you driving Openai’s growth?
Openai’s growth can be attributed to several factors. ChatGpt’s excellent performance has made it a priority tool for everything from content creation to programming assistance. The model consistently outperforms its competitors on a variety of benchmarks, strengthening its reputation as one of the most sophisticated AI systems available.
User recruitment is also driven by word of mouth, increasing integration into daily workflows. Since its launch on November 30th, 2022, ChatGPT has grown exponentially, reaching 1 million users in just five days and is expanding rapidly.
Additionally, continuous enhancements to OpenAI models such as the GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4O improve efficiency and accuracy. The partnership, including in-depth collaboration with Microsoft, also helped openai’s reach and capabilities.
However, this rapid expansion does not occur without challenges. Increased demand could be straining Openai’s infrastructure, leading to occasional outages. To maintain it, the company is investing billions to expand its AI infrastructure to maintain reliability and performance. It is also part of Project Stargate, a $500 billion joint venture between SoftBank and Oracle to build the largest AI infrastructure in the United States.
The surge in Openai’s user base may have contributed to the frequent halt in recent months. With millions of new users, the infrastructure is under pressure. This is a common challenge for rapidly expanding the platform. To meet demand, Openai may need to further expand its AI infrastructure and increase the resilience of its systems.
AI Enterprise adoption is increasing
Beyond individual users, Openai is also invading businesses. The company currently has 2 million paid companies’ customers. The number has been postponed from September. LightCap said employees often start using ChatGpt personally and then promote company-wide recruitment.
Enterprise adoption has played a key role in Openai’s popularity. Companies integrate OpenAI models into operations and leverage AI for customer support, data analytics and automation. Companies such as Uber, Morgan Stanley and T-Mobile are using Openai technology to further increase adoption.
“We’re benefiting a lot from recruiting organic consumers,” he said. “On different curves, they’re steadily growing.”
The developer ecosystem is also expanding. Over the past six months, developer traffic has doubled and Openai’s O3 inference model has five times more used. Companies such as Uber, Morgan Stanley, Moderna and T-Mobile have already integrated Openai models into their businesses.
LightCap compared this to cloud services. Cloud services took time to establish, but ultimately became the backbone for businesses. He said AI is following the same trajectory.
“There’s a buying cycle and a learning process that moves towards expanding your enterprise business,” says LightCap. “AI becomes like a cloud service. Sometimes you can’t afford to run it without a business.”
deepseek effect
Openai’s growth comes as new competitors emerge, especially Deepseek. The Chinese startup rattles the tech market in January, surpassing Meta’s Lama 3.1, Openai’s GPT-4O, and Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 with third-party benchmarks.
The response was quick. Nvidia lost 17% in one day, eliminating its market value of nearly $600 billion as investors worried that US companies were losing their advantage.
In the aftermath, Openai accused Deepseek of being a model distillation. This essentially trained AI by leveraging Openai’s output without permission. Nonetheless, LightCap said Openai has not changed its approach to open source AI or its broad business strategy.
“Deepseek is proof that AI has entered the mainstream public consciousness. That would have been immeasurable two years ago,” he said. “It’s a moment that shows just how powerful these models are and how people really care about them.”
Legal fights and high stakes deals
As Openai expands, tensions rise. Openai co-founder Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming he was lost from his original non-profit mission. Meanwhile, Microsoft has sent billions to Openai, and Softbank reportedly shuts down to a $40 billion investment that could boost Openai’s valuation to $300 billion.
Musk and the investor group recently provided $97.4 billion to acquire Openai’s non-profit assets. In response, Openai’s board rejected the offer, calling it “not a bid at all.” Chairman Brett Taylor has stepped up his stance that “the company is not on sale.”
Lightcap has dismissed the Musk legal action as a competitive stance.
“The numbers tell the story,” he said. “(Mask) is a competitor. He is competing. It’s an unorthodox way of competition.”
Openai fights back with deep research
Despite the legal distraction, the opening is moving forward. The company recently launched Deep Research, an AI agent designed to autonomously carry out complex research tasks. Built on the O3 inference model, it can process and synthesize information from a variety of online sources, including text, images and PDFs, and generate detailed reports in minutes.
Deep Research, targeting financial, science and engineering experts, is currently available to Pro users in the US, ChatGPT users, and plans to expand access soon.
What’s next for Openai?
Last week, Openai laid out a roadmap for the next wave of AI models. GPT-4.5, called Orion, is expected to be a final iteration before major changes in the way these models process information. The GPT-5 is on track to deploy a more integrated AI system, making the interaction even more seamless.
Users will see layered access:
Additionally, subscribers will get GPT-5 at a higher intelligence level. Pro Subscriber has access to even more advanced versions with additional features such as Voice, Canvas interface, integrated search and deep search tools.
Openai’s next move
The goal is clear: Make AI easier to use and more effective. Rather than choosing a different model for users, OpenAI wants a system that provides the best possible response.
The latest updates from Sam Altman show a shift in focus on creating smarter models as well as creating AI that seamlessly integrates into everyday life. When Openai runs on that vision, it can solidify the top position, regardless of how much competition comes into the space.
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