Title: ChatGPT Witnesses First-Ever User Decline in June, Indicating a Potential Industry Trend
OpenAI’s popular chatbot, ChatGPT, has experienced a significant decline in user engagement for the first time since its meteoric rise last year and into early 2023. Recent data from internet analytics firm Similarweb reveals that global traffic to ChatGPT’s website on both mobile and desktop platforms dropped by 9.7 percent in June. This dip marks the first decline in user numbers for the AI-powered chatbot. Similarly, app tracker Sensor Tower witnessed a decrease in downloads after a peak earlier in the month. Engadget’s request for comments from OpenAI regarding these findings remains unanswered.
Interestingly, the decline in interest surrounding ChatGPT appears to be part of a larger industry trend. Similarweb’s analytics data indicates that other popular entities, such as Microsoft Bing, Google Bard, and Character.AI, have also experienced a decline in traffic to their respective mobile and desktop platforms in recent months. Microsoft experienced a surge in traffic to Bing’s search engine when their AI integration became publicly available in February and March. However, since then, monthly traffic has steadily declined, almost returning to pre-AI levels. Furthermore, Similarweb has observed an 8.5 percent decrease in ChatGPT engagement in terms of user minutes, as of May 2023.
Possible reasons for this decline could include the end of the academic year. As college students embark on their summer break, it is speculated that fewer young adults are utilizing ChatGPT to assist with their paper writing. Additionally, the shift in preference towards AI chatbots offered by companies like Samsung could contribute to the waning interest in OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Regardless of the reasons behind the decline, OpenAI remains unfazed. CEO Sam Altman has previously mentioned that operating the service comes at a substantial cost to OpenAI.
In conclusion, ChatGPT’s first-ever decline in user engagement in June suggests a larger industry trend affecting other entities as well. While it is unclear what exactly has caused this drop, the end of the academic year and the emergence of alternative AI chatbot options could be contributing factors. Despite the decline, OpenAI appears unfazed by the reduced usage of the public version of ChatGPT. Their focus likely remains on further refining and developing their technology instead of emphasizing mass adoption.
