OpenAI’s ChatGPT will reach 700 million weekly active users this week, the company announced Monday, cementing its position as one of the fastest-adopted software products in history just as the company prepares to release its most powerful language model yet.

The surge is a 40 percent jump from the 500 million weekly users ChatGPT had at the end of March and marks a fourfold increase from the same period last year. The explosive growth rivals the adoption rates of platforms like Zoom during the pandemic and early social media networks, underscoring how quickly AI tools have moved from experimental to essential.

This week, ChatGPT is on track to reach 700M weekly active users — up from 500M at the end of March and 4× since last year. Every day, people and teams are learning, creating, and solving harder problems. Big week ahead. Grateful to the team for making ChatGPT more useful and…

— Nick Turley (@nickaturley) August 4, 2025

The milestone comes at a strategic moment for OpenAI, which reportedly plans to launch GPT-5 in early August, citing sources familiar with the company’s plans. The timing suggests OpenAI is orchestrating a coordinated push to dominate the AI landscape before competitors can close the gap.

“Every day, people and teams are learning, creating, and solving harder problems,” said Nick Turley, OpenAI’s vice president of product for ChatGPT, in announcing the user benchmark. “Big week ahead.”

GPT-5 will combine reasoning powers into single AI system

The upcoming model goes beyond an incremental upgrade. According to people briefed on the project who spoke to The Information, GPT-5 will integrate OpenAI’s advanced reasoning capabilities from its o3 series directly into the flagship GPT platform, creating what CEO Sam Altman has described as “a system that integrates a lot of our technology.”

This integration marks a strategic shift for OpenAI, which has previously released reasoning models separately from its general-purpose language models. By combining these capabilities, the company aims to reduce user confusion about which model to deploy for specific tasks while creating a more powerful unified system.

turns out yes! pic.twitter.com/yVsZXKSmKR

— Sam Altman (@sama) August 3, 2025

The consolidation also serves OpenAI’s broader ambition to achieve artificial general intelligence, or AGI — a milestone that would trigger significant changes to its partnership with Microsoft. Under their current agreement, achieving AGI would force Microsoft to relinquish its rights to OpenAI’s revenue and future models, potentially reshaping one of the most consequential partnerships in technology.

Altman has tempered expectations, however, stating that GPT-5 won’t reach “gold level of capability for many months” after launch, suggesting the AGI threshold remains beyond immediate reach.

Business customers jump to 5 million as revenue hits $13 billion

The user growth reflects ChatGPT’s expanding role in corporate America. OpenAI now serves 5 million paying business customers, up from 3 million in June, as enterprises increasingly integrate AI tools into core operations. Daily user messages have surpassed 3 billion, reflecting not just growth in users but intensifying engagement with the platform.

This surge in business adoption has driven OpenAI’s annual recurring revenue to $13 billion, up from $10 billion in June, with projections suggesting it could exceed $20 billion by year-end. The revenue growth, combined with a recent $8.3 billion funding round that valued OpenAI at $300 billion, provides the financial foundation for the massive infrastructure investments required to maintain its technological edge.

Those investments are substantial. OpenAI has committed to a $30 billion annual lease with Oracle for data center capacity and struck an $11.9 billion deal with cloud provider CoreWeave, while planning international expansion through partnerships like Stargate Norway and a major data center project in Abu Dhabi.

The rapid growth comes as OpenAI faces mounting pressure from well-funded rivals eager to capture market share. Google’s AI search product, AI Overviews, claims 2 billion monthly users across more than 200 countries, while its Gemini App reports 450 million monthly active users. Anthropic, backed by significant investments from Amazon and others, is reportedly seeking to raise up to $5 billion at a $170 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg.

Meta has made significant strides with its Llama models, while Elon Musk’s xAI continues to attract attention and investment. The competitive landscape has intensified the AI arms race, with companies pouring billions into compute infrastructure and talent acquisition.

The competition has triggered a talent war among tech giants. Microsoft has reportedly hired more than 20 employees from Google’s DeepMind team in recent months, including former Gemini engineering head Amar Subramanya, The Information reported, as companies raid each other’s AI talent pools.

ChatGPT adds wellness features as AI safety concerns grow

As OpenAI pursues raw capability improvements, the company has also emphasized optimizing ChatGPT for user well-being and productivity. The company recently outlined efforts to help users “thrive in the ways you choose—not to hold your attention, but to help you use it well.”

We build ChatGPT to help you thrive in the ways you choose — not to hold your attention, but to help you use it well. We’re improving support for tough moments, have rolled out break reminders, and are developing better life advice, all guided by expert input.…

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) August 4, 2025

New features include break reminders and improved support for challenging situations, reflecting growing awareness of AI’s psychological and social impacts. This focus on responsible deployment could prove crucial as regulatory scrutiny intensifies and public debate about AI’s societal effects continues.

When GPT-5 launches, it will include multiple variants — including mini and nano versions available through OpenAI’s API — providing developers and enterprises with options tailored to different use cases and computational requirements.

700 million users signal AI’s mainstream business adoption

The convergence of ChatGPT’s user growth and GPT-5’s launch marks a pivotal moment for the AI industry. OpenAI’s ability to maintain its lead while competitors rapidly advance will likely determine the sector’s trajectory for years to come.

The company’s success has already reshaped how businesses think about AI integration, moving the technology from experimental projects to core operational tools. The 700 million user figure shows this transformation is accelerating, with implications extending far beyond technology into education, creative industries, and knowledge work.

For enterprise customers, the user growth provides confidence in ChatGPT’s stability and longevity — crucial factors for organizations making long-term AI investments. The platform’s scale also creates network effects, as widespread adoption drives improvements in model training and capability development.

OpenAI now faces a test that will define the company’s future: whether it can convert unprecedented user growth into sustained market dominance. In a field where yesterday’s breakthrough becomes tomorrow’s baseline, 700 million users might just be the beginning.

In late May, OpenAI quietly announced its $6.5 billion acquisition of Io, a little-known but highly technical company focused on model deployment and orchestration. This deal was interesting not because of the size of the deal. It was what the deal revealed.

The most aggressive buyers in AI are no longer chasing novelty. They are chasing infrastructure. As AI shifts from lab to production, the real battle is not about building models. It is about running them at scale — reliably and securely.

Volume is up, but value is polarized

Across the three half-year periods from H1 2024 to H1 2025, AI M&A volume climbed steadily, reaching 262 deals in the most recent half, Crunchbase data shows. That marks a 35% increase year over year.

On the surface, it looks like a market firing on all cylinders. But the data tells a more nuanced story. The median deal size stayed flat at $67.5 million, while the average soared past $435 million, per Crunchbase data.

That spread is significant. It reflects a bifurcated market. On one end, a small number of strategic infrastructure plays are driving billion-dollar outcomes. On the other, a long tail of smaller, often modest acquisitions is quietly taking place at a steady pace.

That long tail deserves more attention.

These companies tend to be less heavily funded, more capital efficient and focused on solving very specific business needs. Their exits may not make headlines, but they create tangible value for acquirers who need domain expertise, internal automation or edge-case capabilities.

These are disciplined businesses built for sustainability, not spectacle. In many cases, their modest M&A outcomes are not a reflection of failure but a sign of good market fit.

Beyond Big Tech: Strategic buyers step in

While companies such as Nvidia and OpenAI continue to lead in both frequency and deal value, a different class of acquirer is emerging. Mastercard, ServiceNow, Accenture and a growing roster of vertical SaaS players have stepped into the M&A market with strategic intent.

These buyers are not looking for demos or experiments. They are seeking AI that can be embedded, deployed and commercialized inside industries that demand performance and reliability. In sectors like healthcare, legal, financial services and compliance, the startups getting acquired are not pitching bold visions.

They are delivering operational results, often in regulated or high-stakes environments. That makes them highly valuable, even if they fly under the radar.

From novelty to necessity

What we are seeing now is not a trend. It is a reset. AI has matured from a futuristic edge into a commercial foundation. M&A activity reflects that shift.

The startups commanding the most interest are not those with the most powerful models or the flashiest interfaces. They are the ones solving persistent, expensive problems in a way that integrates cleanly into existing systems.

For founders, the lesson is increasingly clear. The real question is not how impressive the tech is. It is how difficult the company would be to replace. Whether the focus is on infrastructure, domain-specific automation or a narrow but mission-critical workflow, the market is rewarding precision and purpose.

These are the quiet wins that will define the next phase of AI.

Itay Sagie is a strategic adviser to tech companies and investors, specializing in strategy, growth and M&A, a guest contributor to Crunchbase News, and a seasoned lecturer. Learn more about his advisory services, lectures and courses at SagieCapital.com. Connect with him on LinkedIn for further insights and discussions.

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