ChatGPT Hits 1 Billion Monthly Users, Faster Than Any App in History

Key Points

• ChatGPT reached an estimated 1 billion monthly active users in May, about three years after launch.
• Sensor Tower’s data makes the chatbot the fastest app ever to hit the billion‑user mark.
• The figure counts only mobile‑app users; OpenAI has not released audited numbers.
• Anthropic’s Claude trails with roughly 56 million monthly active users, but grew 640 percent YoY.
• OpenAI introduced a $100‑per‑month Pro plan to monetize its massive user base.
• Anthropic focuses on enterprise and developer markets, reporting about $30 billion in annualized revenue.
• The milestone gives OpenAI a distribution edge, but converting free users to paying customers remains a challenge.
• Both firms now compete on monetization, ecosystem lock‑in and sustainable compute costs.