ChatGPT records first drop in visitors and monthly traffic

(Patria) - ChatGPT, the popular chatbot from OpenAI launched in November last year, recorded a monthly drop in visitors and traffic on its website in June for the first time since its launch, analytics company Similarweb announced yesterday.

Global PC and mobile traffic to the ChatGPT website decreased by 9.7 percent in June compared to May, while unique visitors to the ChatGPT website fell by 5.7 percent.

The amount of time visitors spent on the website also decreased by 8.5 percent, the data shows.

- The decrease in traffic is a sign that the chatbot's appeal as a technological innovation is slowly diminishing - said David Carr, an analyst at Similarweb.

Rishi Jaluria from RBC Capital Markets explains that the data indicates a greater demand for generative artificial intelligence with real-time information.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Hina reports.

ChatGPT pioneered the use of generative artificial intelligence in everyday tasks, from writing to programming, and reached 100 million active users per month in January, two months after its launch.

It is the fastest-growing application and now boasts over 1.5 billion monthly visits, making it one of the top 20 most visited websites in the world.

Several ChatGPT competitors, including Google's chatbot Bard, have been launched in recent months.

OpenAI also released the ChatGPT app on iOS in May, which could reduce traffic to its website. Some also link the change in usage to summer holidays for schools, as fewer students seek homework help.

The chatbot has been downloaded more than 17 million times on iOS worldwide as of July 4, according to data.ai.

The recent slowdown in growth could help control the costs of running ChatGPT, which requires intensive computing power to respond to queries.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, described the service's operating costs as "challenging".

ChatGPT is free to use, but it also offers a premium subscription, where users can pay $20 per month for access to OpenAI's more advanced model, GPT-4.

According to the latest estimates from YipitData, about 1.5 million people have signed up for a subscription in the US.

OpenAI has projected revenue of $200 million this year.