Key Highlights
- ChatGPT website traffic declines for the first time.
- Monthly visits and unique visitors decrease.
ChatGPT faced a decrease in its monthly website traffic and the number of people visiting its website in June. This decline is significant because it’s the first time such a drop has been observed since ChatGPT was launched in November. Similarweb, an analytics firm, provided the data, revealing that both desktop and mobile traffic to the ChatGPT website decreased by 9.7 per cent in June compared to May. Moreover, the number of unique visitors dropped by 5.7 per cent, and visitors also spent 8.5 per cent less time on the website.
Also Read: ChatGPT App Now Launched In India And 32 Other Nations: Who Can Use?
ChatGPT’s Growth, Current Status & Competitors
When ChatGPT was introduced in January, it became extremely popular in a short amount of time. Within just two months, it gained over 100 million active users every month. This made it the fastest-growing consumer application ever.
In fact, it received more than 1.5 billion visits to its website each month and even reached the top 20 websites worldwide. ChatGPT’s success was so impressive that it surpassed Bing, which is Microsoft’s search engine that also uses OpenAI’s technology.
In recent months, some new competitors have joined the chatbot market, including Google’s Bard chatbot. Moreover, the release of the ChatGPT app for iOS devices in May might have caused a change in traffic, with people using the app instead of visiting the website. Some experts also suggest that the decrease in usage could be because it’s summer break for schools, and fewer students are looking for help with their homework during this time.
Also Read: Microsoft Visual ChatGPT Is The New Hype: How To Use This Advanced AI Chatbot
Possible Reasons for the Decline
David Carr, who is a Senior Insights Manager at Similarweb, believes that the decrease in traffic might mean that people are not as excited about the chatbot as they were in the beginning. Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, thinks that the data shows that people are now more interested in generative AI that can give them real-time information.
However, OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT, has not provided any comments yet regarding this decline in traffic.
Also Read: The Ultimate Guide To Use ChatGPT On WhatsApp
Implications for OpenAI
The recent slowdown in ChatGPT’s growth may actually have a positive effect on its operational costs. Running the chatbot requires a lot of computing power, which comes with significant expenses. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has even described these costs as quite high. While ChatGPT is available for free, OpenAI also offers a premium subscription option. This subscription allows users to access the more advanced GPT-4 model for a monthly fee of $20. Estimates from YipitData suggest that approximately 1.5 million users in the U.S. have already signed up for this subscription.
OpenAI is projecting a revenue of $200 million this year. In addition to ChatGPT, the company generates income by selling API access to its AI models directly to developers and businesses. OpenAI has also formed a partnership with Microsoft, which has invested over $10 billion in the company.
Although the decline in website traffic for ChatGPT raises concerns about its long-term sustainability, OpenAI remains committed to finding new opportunities to expand its revenue streams and improve the chatbot’s capabilities. The company is continuously exploring ways to enhance its offerings and ensure a successful future for ChatGPT.
