OpenAI's ChatGPT website visits drop for the third consecutive month in August

OpenAI's ChatGPT, the AI chatbot sensation that took the world by storm when it was launched in November, has experienced a decline in monthly website visits for the third consecutive month, as reported by analytics firm Similarweb.

In August, worldwide desktop and mobile website visits to the ChatGPT platform dwindled by 3.2%, reaching 1.43 billion visits. This decline follows two consecutive months of approximately 10% drops in website traffic. Moreover, the average time visitors spent on the site has seen a steady decrease since March, falling from an average of 8.7 minutes to 7 minutes in August.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for ChatGPT. In August, worldwide unique visitors experienced a slight uptick, with numbers increasing from 180 million to 180.5 million users.

The impending return of schools in September may serve as a catalyst for ChatGPT's recovery. Some educational institutions have begun to embrace the AI chatbot, leading to a rise in traffic and usage, particularly in the United States. As American schools resumed sessions, US ChatGPT traffic showed a modest increase.

According to the Similarweb report, David F. Carr, an analyst at Similarweb who closely monitors ChatGPT and its competitors, commented on the situation. "Students seeking homework help appear to be part of the story: the percentage of younger users of the website dropped over the summer and is now starting to bounce back," Carr noted.

ChatGPT achieved a milestone when it garnered 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after its initial launch. Its rapid ascent made it 
one of the fastest-growing consumer applications ever and secured its position among the top 30 websites globally.

Despite ChatGPT's dominance, it faces competition from newcomers like Google's Bard chatbot, launched earlier this year. Additionally, Microsoft's search engine, Bing, offers a chatbot powered by OpenAI for free.

OpenAI extended its reach by introducing the ChatGPT app on the iOS platform in May. While this expansion may have influenced a portion of the decline in website traffic, it's worth noting that ChatGPT remains accessible free of charge, with a premium subscription option priced at $20 per month.

OpenAI's revenue streams extend beyond ChatGPT's website traffic, as the company generates income by selling access to its AI models directly to developers and enterprises. Moreover, the partnership with tech giant Microsoft, which invested over $10 billion into OpenAI, further bolsters the company's financial stability.

As ChatGPT navigates this period of declining traction, the coming months will undoubtedly be closely watched by technology enthusiasts and industry observers worldwide.

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Also read: OpenAI warns teachers that ChatGPT cannot detect AI-generated content, but offers tricks to identify copied answers