OpenAI estimates ChatGPT search volume at one-fifth of Google

According to Frye, the chatbot reached this level in about a year and a half since it learned to search the internet for up-to-date information. This is OpenAI's own estimate: the company has not published the source data, and the comparison does not rely on independent measurements. OpenAI counts every question for which ChatGPT accesses the web to answer as an individual query, meaning there can be several such queries in a single conversation.

Frye said that people use ChatGPT to search for information about people, places, and objects, as well as to ask about finance and health. He cited personalization as the main difference from conventional search engines: the chatbot is capable of taking into account what it already knows about the user, such as an upcoming trip.

He cited other metrics as well. Over the past 60 days, ChatGPT's weekly audience grew from 1 billion to 1.2 billion people. Voice input, including dictation and voice mode, is used by 250 million people a week, and 1.5 billion images are generated weekly.

In addition, Frye confirmed that the "Chat" and "Work" modes will be merged into a single interface where the system itself will decide whether a short answer or a task for an AI agent is needed; according to him, this will happen "soon." He also acknowledged that the personal AI agent Dots requires significant computing power.