ChatGPT on track to be adopted more quickly than TikTok or Instagram

ChatGPT is on track to surpass 100 m monthly active users (MAUs) since its launch 2 months ago, according to data compiled by UBS. This would mean that ChatGPT has been adopted more quickly than even TikTok or Instagram. By UBS's count, TikTok took 9 months to reach 100 m MAUs, while Instagram took 30 months to hit the same benchmark. ChatGPT could be on pace to break even TikTok's record, gaining 100 m MAUs since its Nov launch.

The conversational AI app's popularity has been widely spoken about as a threat to the dominance of Google parent Alphabet.

Though the talk of ChatGPT as a full-fledged "Google killer" is likely overblown, UBS analysts – including Lloyd Walmsley, Karl Kierstead, and Timothy Acuri – believe that the app's success has put Google in a bind.

"Google is in a catch-22, where it either (1) fails to impress, feeding questions around competitive position or (2) it overcommits, causing concern around (i) monetization risk and (ii) margin erosion," they wrote.

UBS research also suggests that the total addressable market that ChatGPT is operating in could be worth as much as USD1 t.

OpenAI this month announced that it was launching a subscription called "ChatGPT Plus" that's priced starting at USD20 a month. There's a chance people will 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 was launched in Nov 2022, with search interest reaching the highest level to-date just a few days ago," the group of analysts wrote on Feb. 1.