ChatGPT Lost Millions of Users for the First Time

Following its impressive rise in popularity from late last year into early 2023, OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, seems to be experiencing a decline in momentum.

According to data shared by internet analytics firm Similarweb with The Washington Post, global traffic to ChatGPT’s website witnessed a 9.7% decrease last month. This drop signifies the first decline in user engagement for the chatbot if Similarweb’s data is accurate.

Additionally, in June, app tracker Sensor Tower observed a decline in downloads of ChatGPT’s iOS client after reaching its peak earlier in the month. Engadget reached out to OpenAI for comment, but the company did not respond immediately.

The waning interest in ChatGPT appears to be part of a broader industry trend. Similarweb’s data indicates that fewer individuals have been visiting the desktop and mobile websites of Microsoft Bing, Google Bard, and Character.AI in recent months. Microsoft, for example, experienced a surge in traffic to its search engine between February and March when Bing AI became available in public preview.

However, monthly traffic to the website has steadily declined since then, returning to nearly the pre-GPT-4 levels after Microsoft revamped Bing. Additionally, Similarweb reports a decrease in ChatGPT engagement, with user minutes down by 8.5% as of May 2023.

One potential factor contributing to the decline, as suggested by The Washington Post, could be the end of the school year. With college students on summer break, there might be fewer young adults utilizing ChatGPT for academic purposes such as writing papers.

Another possible reason could be certain companies, like Samsung, imposing restrictions on the use of AI chatbots by their employees due to concerns about data breaches.

Whatever the cause behind the decline, it is unlikely that OpenAI is in a state of panic. In fact, the research lab may even view the reduced usage of the public version of ChatGPT as a positive outcome. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has previously mentioned that operating the service comes at a significant cost for the organization.