In the world of AI, ChatGPT has been nothing short of a sensation. Developed by OpenAI, this AI chatbot has won hearts and minds with its linguistic prowess. However, as of late, ChatGPT has been navigating some turbulent cyber-waters, with its website traffic registering a decline for the third consecutive month in August.
August brought with it a 3.2% dip in global website traffic to the ChatGPT website, encompassing both desktop and mobile visits. This follows a pattern of around 10% reductions in traffic for each of the two previous months. As if marking the passage of time, the average duration of time visitors spent on the website has been steadily dwindling since March, from an average of 8.7 minutes per visit to a mere 7 minutes by August.
Notably, August did witness a glimmer of hope, as the number of unique visitors to ChatGPT’s website globally showed a slight uptick, inching from 180 million users to 180.5 million users.
As September unfurls its academic banner and schools swing back into session, ChatGPT is poised for a potential resurgence. Some educational institutions have already embraced ChatGPT as a valuable tool, offering a glimpse of its potential in the scholastic sphere. This renewed interest manifested in a modest uptick in ChatGPT traffic in the United States during August, coinciding with the reopening of American schools.
David F. Carr, an observant tracker of ChatGPT and its competitors at Similarweb, revealed a piece of the puzzle, saying, “Students seeking homework help appears to be part of the story: the percentage of younger users of the website dropped over the summer and is now starting to bounce back.”
ChatGPT burst onto the scene, triggering a wave of interest in generative AI for a multitude of daily tasks, from text editing to coding. Within a mere two months of its launch, ChatGPT boasted a staggering achievement of 100 million monthly active users in January. Generative AI technology, which taps into historical data to craft new content, was harnessed for a wide range of applications, including crafting essays and composing poems.
In its quest for wider accessibility, OpenAI introduced the ChatGPT app on the iOS platform in May. While ChatGPT remains a free service, it also offers a premium subscription option, priced at $20 monthly.
Apart from the ChatGPT venture and its subscription-based revenue stream, OpenAI generates income by providing access to its AI models to both developers and businesses. The company has formed pivotal partnerships, including a significant investment from tech giant Microsoft, valued at over $10 billion, further fueling its financial growth prospects.