ChatGPT Nears 1 Billion Weekly Users, Lagging Internal Target by Seven Months

OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT is projected to exceed one billion weekly active users (WAU) before the end of 2026, following 800 million users in late 2025 and 900 million confirmed on 27 February 2026. This would make it the fastest‑growing consumer internet product in history, outpacing services such as Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp. However, internal data show the milestone is arriving about seven months later than OpenAI’s own target.

The rapid growth occurs amid intensifying competition. Google’s Gemini AI, integrated with its search engine, and Anthropic’s Claude chatbot are eroding market share. OpenAI’s rollout of a GPT‑5 model last autumn faced development setbacks and user dissatisfaction, contributing to a slowdown in growth. To counter pressure, OpenAI is shifting toward enterprise revenue: CFO Sarah Friar said corporate customers already generate roughly 40 % of the company’s revenue, with a goal of 50 % by year‑end. The platform is also evolving into an “AI agent,” adding capabilities such as Gmail and calendar integration and a desktop‑focused super‑app.

Despite the delayed timeline, the scale of user adoption underscores ChatGPT’s transformative impact on consumer AI usage worldwide.