ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that has received widespread attention since its launch two months ago, is on track to surpass 100 million monthly active users (MAUs), according to data compiled by UBS.
This would mean that ChatGPT would be adopted faster than even TikTok or Instagram owned by Meta (META). According to UBS’s calculations, TikTok took nine months to reach 100 million MAUs, while Instagram took 30 months to reach the same benchmark. ChatGPT could be on pace to equal TikTok’s record, reaching 100 million MAUs since its launch in November.
“Data suggests DAUs [ChatGPT] it will surpass 100M MAU in January, a huge achievement in such a short period of time,” UBS analysts wrote in a Feb. 1 note. “In 20 years into the Internet space, we can’t recall a faster ramp in a consumer internet app.”
[Read more: AI-related stocks soar on ChatGPT craze]
Big Tech has taken notice. For one, Microsoft ( MSFT ) has stepped up investment in OpenAI, the San Francisco-based developer of ChatGPT, pledging another $10 billion in January. In addition, the popularity of the AI chat app has been widely cited as a threat to the dominance of parent Google (GOOG, GOOGL).
While talk of ChatGPT being a full-fledged “Google killer” is probably overblown, UBS analysts – including Lloyd Walmsley, Karl Kierstead, and Timothy Acuri – believe the app’s success has tied Google.
“Google is in a catch-22, where it either (1) fails to make an impact, raising questions about competitive position or (2) overcommits, leading to concerns about (i) monetary risk and ( ii) margin erosion,” they wrote.
‘The market has enormous potential’
UBS research also suggests that the total addressable market in which ChatGPT operates could be worth as much as $1 trillion — a number analysts have heard from VCs that, while bullish, is not entirely out of the question.
“This may seem like a crazy bullish scenario and prices may fall, but our central point is that the market may be extremely large,” UBS analysts wrote.
OpenAI announced this month that it was launching a subscription called “ChatGPT Plus” which is priced starting at $20 per month. People may buy in, especially if ChatGPT continues to gain momentum – quite simply, right now, people are talking about it and searching for it, of course, on Google.
“Google Trends data shows that worldwide Google search queries for the terms ‘chatgpt’ and ‘chat gpt’ are near peak volumes since the site’s launch in November 2022, with search interest reaching highest so far a few days ago,” the group of analysts wrote on February 1.
Allie Garfinkle is a Senior Technical Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @agarfinks and on LinkedIn.
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