When OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in November 2022, traffic to the site began a steep uphill climb. Eight months later, is interest waning? Worldwide desktop and mobile visitors to the site dropped 9.7% from May to June, according to Similarweb, a market research firm.
“ChatGPT no longer looks like it will keep growing until it’s the most-trafficked website in the world,” David F. Carr, a senior insights manager at Similarweb, wrote in a blog post.
The free version of ChatGPT, accessible via the site, is only part of OpenAI’s business
ChatGPT’s popularity comes at a high cost for the company, as running the tool requires intensive computing power: The semiconductor research firm Semianalysis estimates that it costs OpenAI about $700,000 per day to run ChatGPT. But OpenAI earns revenue by providing API access to companies that want to use the technology for their own purposes, and by selling $20 per month subscriptions to ChatGPT, which is faster than the free version of the tool.
ChatGPT had taken the internet by storm with its ability to generate text, code, and art without the need for a human. The use of the AI bot has elicited emotions ranging from excitement to existential angst. Even with the dip in traffic, the bot’s site still remains popular—it is currently the 20th most-visited site in the world and still receives more traffic than Reddit or sites like Bing.com, which also uses generative AI.