OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been the hottest technology product since it debuted last year. It started the so-called “AI revolution,” gave rise to countless new companies, and has seen phenomenal global growth. However, it seems as though the honeymoon period may have come to an end. ChatGPT usage drops for the first time since its launch.
According to The Washington Post, the app’s user base experienced its first-ever decline last month. In fact, the bot’s website saw a global decline in mobile and desktop traffic of close to 10% in June. The bot’s iPhone app saw a decrease in downloads as well. Though there are suggestions, it’s unclear why the chatbot is suffering such a sharp decline in user interaction.
The majority of The Post’s reporting is based on analysis from the web analytics and market intelligence company Similarweb. The study demonstrates a surge in online traffic following the bot’s launch in November of last year; following that, engagement increased at a phenomenal rate, only to slow in March and then decline in May.
According to the data, visitor engagement per visit to the ChatGPT website has been declining, which indicates that those who do visit the site are staying there for shorter periods of time. The survey also mentions that Character.AI, another well-known AI chatbot, reported a decrease in interaction in June.
Stats show ChatGPT usage dropped for the first time
The worldwide desktop and mobile web traffic to the ChatGPT website decreased by 9.7% from May to June, according to Israeli software and analytics provider Similarweb. The fall in the US weighed in at 10.3%.
In any case, it was the site’s first month-to-month fall. This was corroborated by Sensor Tower’s finding that iOS client downloads for ChatGPT decreased in June after peaking earlier in the month.
Additional information published by Similarweb supported the decreasing interest in ChatGPT. Between May and June, the number of unique visitors from around the world to ChatGPT’s website fell by 5.7%, while the average time spent by visitors fell by 8.5%.
A graph published on the website of similarweb.com shows that between February and March, more people visited Bing’s desktop and mobile websites, both of which incorporate ChatGPT. That traffic has now decreased in April, May, and June after peaking in March.
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Despite the fact that it is projected to cost $700,000 a day to run ChatGPT, the company that owns it may not be feeling the effects of the downturn. According to Similarweb, “the ChatGPT website primarily serves as a loss leader generating sales leads for OpenAI, which makes its technology available for other companies to embed in their applications.” Subscribers to the OpenAI website who wish to access the most recent ChatGPT version are where OpenAI gets its money.
The end of the school year might be to blame for dropped ChatGPT usage
The Post speculates that the conclusion of the school year might be the reason behind the dip. It is assumed that fewer young adults are using ChatGPT to compose their papers now that the majority of college students are on summer breaks.
Another factor might be the fact that organizations like Samsung forbid staff from utilizing AI chatbots out of a very serious concern about a potential data leak. No one at OpenAI is in a panic, whatever the cause of the fall.
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The research lab is most likely content that fewer people are using ChatGPT’s public edition. According to CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI incurs “eye-watering” operating expenses to provide the service.
Featured image credit: Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
