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OpenAI’s most recent dated figure is about 1.2 billion weekly users, stated in its DevDay 2026 recap dated September 29, 2026. That is a company-reported count of weekly users. It is not a verified count of distinct human beings, and OpenAI’s own usage research explains why the two can differ.
The latest official figure
In the DevDay 2026 recap, OpenAI wrote that developers can launch experiences to ChatGPT’s “collective 1.2B weekly users.” The wording is OpenAI’s, the metric is weekly users, and the post does not explain how those users were counted. Quote it as “1.2 billion weekly users, according to OpenAI, September 29, 2026.”
Milestones OpenAI has reported in 2026
OpenAI has reported several figures this year. They measure different things and should be read with their dates and labels.
| Date | Reported figure | Metric as worded | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 2026 | More than 900 million | Weekly active users | OpenAI February 2026 announcement |
| February 2026 | More than 50 million | Consumer subscribers | OpenAI February 2026 announcement |
| February 2026 | More than 9 million | Paying business users | OpenAI February 2026 announcement |
| August 31, 2026 | More than 1 billion | Weekly active users | OpenAI post on expanding access to AI |
| September 29, 2026 | 1.2 billion | “Collective 1.2B weekly users” | OpenAI DevDay 2026 recap |
The sequence shows OpenAI’s reported weekly audience rising from more than 900 million in February to 1.2 billion by late September 2026. Because phrasing varies between posts, use the exact wording of the post you cite.
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Why “weekly users” is not the same as unique people
OpenAI’s Economic Research paper, How People Use ChatGPT, explains that the company’s user counts are built from accounts and browser activity rather than verified identities. That creates three gaps between a count of users and a count of people:
- Multiple accounts. Logged-in counts use distinct login credentials, and one person can hold more than one account.
- Multiple devices. Logged-out activity is counted by browser cookies, so the same person using several devices may be counted more than once.
- Cleared cookies. Clearing cookies creates a new identifier, which can inflate logged-out counts for the same person.
For that reason, describe the figure as OpenAI’s weekly user count. Avoid saying it is the number of unique people who use ChatGPT. None of the headline figures in this article has been independently audited.
Weekly users, subscribers and business users are separate measures
OpenAI’s February 2026 post reported three separate metrics, each covering a different group:
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- Weekly active users count people, or accounts, that used ChatGPT during a week, whether or not they pay.
- Consumer subscribers count individuals on paid personal plans.
- Paying business users count paid workplace accounts, a group separate from consumer plans.
These figures should never be added together or treated as parts of one total. A subscriber is a paid account and may also be included in weekly users, so the categories overlap rather than sum.
Growth from launch to mid-2025
The OpenAI Economic Research paper gives the longest-running historical view available from OpenAI. Its chart uses consumer-plan snapshots, and the measures change partway through:
| Point in time | Reported figure | Measure used |
|---|---|---|
| After one year | More than 100 million | Logged-in weekly active users |
| After two years | Almost 350 million | Logged-in weekly active users |
| End of July 2025 | More than 700 million | Total weekly active users |
The first two rows use a logged-in measure and the last row uses a total measure, so the series is not like-for-like. The paper also states that by the end of July 2025, ChatGPT had “more than 700 million total WAU, nearly 10% of the world’s adult population.” That comparison is tied to July 2025 and should be quoted with that date.
How people use ChatGPT
The usage statistics below come from two OpenAI studies with different scopes. Keep them separate.
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Message volume growth, July 2024 to July 2025
The Economic Research paper reports that daily message volume grew more than fivefold over that twelve-month period. The figure covers the consumer plans the paper analyzed.
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Work-related and non-work messages
Using an automated classifier, the paper estimates that the share of messages unrelated to work rose from 53% in June 2024 to 73% in June 2025. This is a model’s classification of individual messages. It is not a survey in which people described their own purposes.
Scope of the 2025 paper
The paper analyzes Free, Plus and Pro consumer plans. It excludes Business (formerly Teams), Enterprise and Education, so its usage breakdown should not be assumed to describe organizational accounts.
Engagement after signup, OpenAI Signals (2026)
In an OpenAI Signals analysis, users sent 50% more messages per day six months after signup than they did at signup, and they doubled the number of distinct tasks they tried. The study used a 0.1% sample of accounts created between October 15, 2025 and May 1, 2026, with activity through May 31, 2026. It excluded banned users, users under 18, and accounts with no messages in their first 28 days. These results describe that sample and should not be extended to all users.
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Why the 2025 and 2026 studies cannot be compared directly
The 2025 paper and the 2026 Signals analysis use different samples, periods and definitions. Read them as separate snapshots, not as a continuous trend line.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The Bottom Line
According to OpenAI, ChatGPT reached about 1.2 billion weekly users by its September 29, 2026 announcement, up from more than 1 billion in August. Those are large, company-reported weekly-usage figures. They do not establish an exact number of unique people, because accounts, devices and cleared cookies all affect the count. When you cite a figure, state the metric, the date and the publisher.
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