Timeline of ChatGPT

The timeline currently offers focused coverage of the period until April 2026. It is likely to miss important developments outside this period (particularly after this period) though it may have a few events from after this period.

This is a timeline of ChatGPT, an AI-based chatbot developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT falls into the category of generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence that can be used to create text or images. It works by utilizing a large language model, which enables it to understand and produce dialogue using significant amounts of data. Since its launch in November 2022, as of March 2023 ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer app in internet history, reaching 100 million users within two months.

Sample questions

The following are some interesting questions that can be answered by reading this timeline:

• What are some important events preluding the release of ChatGPT?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Prelude".
  • You will see some significant events preluding the release of ChatGPT.
• When was ChatGPT launched? What are other related services?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Product launch".
  • You will see a number of events describing the launch and expansion of ChatGPT into updated versions.
  • describes the launch and expansion of ChatGPT
• What are some events describing the performance of ChatGPT?
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  • You will see a number of studies assessing ChatGPT on different skills.
• What are some notable cases of adoption?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Adoption".
  • You will see examples showing how ChatGPT is being used in a variety of ways. You will also see a number of studies analizing the adoption of ChatGPT in some fields.
• What are some reviews on the behavior of ChatGPT?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Model behavior".
  • You will see a number of reviews discussing topics such as outages, data exposure, hallucination, and also ChatGPT's political Ideology.
• What are some events discussing actual or potential impact of ChatGPT and similar products on different aspects of society?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Impact".
  • You will see a number of areas of impact and discussed issues, such as potential ChatGPT political engagement, warning against humanizing chatbots, the transformative role in education, impact on job roles, ocupations and industries, and other ethical concerns.
• What are some examples of expansion of ChatGPT into other territories and languages?
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• What are some cases of competition from other companies developing similar products?
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  • You will see some comparisons between ChatGPT and other services, as well as prospective launches of large language model-based chatbots by other companies.
• What are some cases of ban or restriction of use of ChatGPT by official entities?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Restriction".
  • You will see some notable restrictions, like the temporary ban in Italy, as well as some cautious company bans.
• Other events are described under the following types: "Criticism", "Extension", "Growth", "Legal", "Maintenance", "Privacy", "Reception", "Recognition", "Revenue", and "Security".

Big picture

Time period (approximately)	Development summary	More details
2015–2019	Foundational research and initial models	OpenAI is established in 2015 with the goal of creating artificial general intelligence (AGI). In 2018, OpenAI introduces GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer), a revolutionary natural language processing model. This is followed by the release of GPT-2 in 2019, which demonstrates impressive capabilities in text generation. However, due to concerns about the potential misuse of the model, OpenAI initially withholds the full version. This period lays the groundwork for future advancements in language models.
2020–2022	Breakthroughs and mainstream adoption	In May 2020, OpenAI releases GPT-3, a groundbreaking model with 175 billion parameters that shows extraordinary versatility in generating human-like text. It becomes widely recognized for its ability to perform a range of tasks, including writing, translation, and answering questions. In 2021, OpenAI introduces Codex, a specialized version of GPT-3 for programming. By late 2022, OpenAI launches ChatGPT, a conversational AI powered by GPT-3, which gains immediate popularity for its ability to engage in interactive and contextually aware dialogue, marking a new era in AI’s role in human-computer interaction.
2023–2026	Expansion and integration into daily life	In 2023, OpenAI releases GPT-4, an even more advanced model with enhanced capabilities, including greater accuracy and improved response generation. GPT-4 is integrated into Microsoft products like Word and Excel through the Copilot feature, further expanding AI's presence in everyday work. OpenAI also introduces ChatGPT Plus, offering access to GPT-4 for users seeking advanced conversational capabilities. By 2024, ChatGPT becomes a key tool in industries ranging from education to healthcare, continuously evolving with improvements in safety, personalization, and ethical AI, shaping the future of digital interaction and problem-solving. In 2025, OpenAI expands ChatGPT through an Oxford partnership, major model releases (GPT-4.1, GPT-5, GPT-5.1), multimodal image generation, and proactive features like Study Together and Pulse, while facing controversy over hallucinations, privacy, and AI reliability. In 2026, OpenAI launches ChatGPT Go and introduces advertising for free-tier users, integrates Adobe's creative suite into ChatGPT, releases ChatGPT Images 2.0 and GPT-5.5, and launches ChatGPT for Clinicians as a free tool for verified healthcare professionals, while also facing a user boycott following a deal to deploy its models within US military networks.

Full timeline

Inclusion criteria

The following events are selected for inclusion in the timeline:

• Preluding events charting the progression toward ChatGPT.
• Product releases, including ChatGPT versions and updates.
• Some notable and/or illustrative coverage.

We do not include:

• Events concerning ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Visit Timeline of OpenAI.

Year	Event type	Details
2001	Prelude	Early chatbot SmarterChild gains popularity among preteens for its witty responses on AIM and MSN. It is a precursor to modern AI bots like Siri and Alexa, even inspiring investors to fund Siri. SmarterChild's parent company, ActiveBuddy, sees its potential and allows other businesses to create AI-driven chatbots. Unlike future modern AI bots like ChatGPT, SmarterChild has a personality and engages in humorous banter with users. The founders of SmarterChild would follow developments in AI over the years, with differing views on its future. SmarterChild is considered by some to be a milestone in AI chatbot evolution.
2015 (December 11)	Prelude	OpenAI is introduced as a non-profit organization focused on advancing digital intelligence in a way that benefits humanity as a whole. Its goal is to create artificial intelligence that is an extension of human will and distributed broadly and evenly. OpenAI's researchers are encouraged to publish their work and collaborate with others across many institutions. The organization receives funding from several donors, including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Amazon Web Services. Its leaders include Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman, who are experts in machine learning.
2016 (April 27)	Prelude	OpenAI Gym is introduced as a toolkit for developing and comparing reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms that consist of a suite of environments from simulated robots to Atari games, and a site for comparing and reproducing results. The environments are written in Python and are compatible with algorithms written in any framework, such as Tensorflow and Theano. The platform aims to fix the lack of standardization of environments used in publications and the need for better benchmarks by providing a diverse suite of environments that range from easy to difficult and involve many different kinds of data. OpenAI Gym provides a site for comparing and reproducing results. They start out by maintaining a curated list of contributions that say something interesting about algorithmic capabilities.
2016 (December 5)	Prelude	OpenAI releases Universe as a software platform designed to measure and train general intelligence in AI systems using a variety of games, websites, and applications. Universe allows an AI to operate a computer like a human does, using screen pixels and a virtual keyboard and mouse, allowing it to be trained on any task that a human can perform with a computer. The platform is capable of launching any program as a Gym environment and upon its launch includes over a thousand environments, including games like slither.io and GTA V, and browser tasks. Universe aims to develop a single AI agent that can apply past experience to quickly master new, difficult environments, moving towards general intelligence. Universe is an open-source platform that can be used for research or integrated with other games or applications.
2018 (June 11)	Prelude	OpenAI unveils GPT-1, its initial version of GPT. This natural language processing model boasts 117 million parameters and is trained on a vast 4.5GB text dataset. What distinguishes GPT-1 from other NLP models at this time is its ability to undergo a substantial part of its training process without direct human oversight.
2019 (February 14)	Product launch	The second version of GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), known as GPT-2, makes its debut. The model, characterized by its remarkable size and proficiency in generating language, garners considerable interest from both the AI community and the media. With an impressive 1.5 billion parameters, it stays as the most extensive and powerful language model during its introduction, signaling a trend toward increasingly larger models in the years ahead.
2019 (July 22)	Partnership	The partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI is disclosed, marking the commencement of their collaborative efforts in advancing AI technology. In this association, Microsoft not only pledges a substantial $1 billion to OpenAI but also commits to joint efforts in developing innovative AI tools and services. Subsequently, Microsoft actively plays a key role in supporting OpenAI's research and development endeavors, particularly those linked to GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) and ChatGPT.
2020 (June 11)	Prelude	OpenAI introduces GPT-3, which has over a thousand times the number of parameters compared to its initial predecessor and the capability to process a vast 570GB of plain text.
2021 (February 26)	Restriction	OpenAI clarifies that generating content for social media platforms, such as tweets and Instagram posts, is impermissible. This update aims to prevent misuse of the technology for generating content on these platforms, ensuring adherence to ethical and policy guidelines.
2021 (March 12 – November 15)	Policy update	OpenAI makes three incremental updates to its usage policy framework during 2021. A March update adds detailed case-by-case requirements and minor editorial clarifications. An August update introduces specific guidance on code generation capabilities, reflecting the growing role of AI in programming contexts. A November update renames the document from "Use case guidelines" to "Usage guidelines" and adds a new "Content guidelines" section that explicitly lists almost always approved uses alongside prohibited ones — the first time the framework distinguishes between these two categories in a dedicated section.
2022 (January 19 – November 9)	Policy update	OpenAI makes five incremental updates to its usage policy framework during 2022. A January update simplifies guidelines for copywriting and article writing. A March update refactors the framework into a new "App Review" structure to improve consistency in evaluating applications. A June update refactors policies into distinct categories of applications, each with specific requirements. An October update shifts App Review to an outcomes-based approach and incorporates updated Safety Best Practices. A November update eliminates the requirement for application registration entirely, replacing it with ongoing automated and manual monitoring of policy compliance.
2022 (November 30)	Product launch	GPT-3.5 is released. ChatGPT is introduced as a conversational AI model that can interact with users and respond to follow-up questions, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. It is trained using Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) and fine-tuned from the GPT-3.5 model. While it has limitations such as occasionally providing incorrect or nonsensical answers and being sensitive to input phrasing, it is designed with safety mitigations and the ability to learn from user feedback. ChatGPT is available for free during the research preview on chat.openai.com.
2022 (December 5)	Recognition	Kevin Roose of The New York Times labels ChatGPT as "the best artificial intelligence chatbot ever released to the general public". ChatGPT demonstrates exceptional flexibility, wit, and problem-solving abilities, attracting over a million testers within days of its launch. While it can handle various tasks, from writing jokes and computer code to aiding programmers and analyzing school assignments, it is not without flaws and may occasionally provide incorrect responses. The New York Times also reports that it has been "rumored" that the next version of the AI, GPT-4, will be launched sometime in 2023.
2022 (December 5)	Restriction	Popular coding question-and-answer site Stack Overflow temporarily bans the sharing of AI-generated answers produced by ChatGPT. The site's moderators say the ban is necessary as ChatGPT's answers are often incorrect and this can mislead users. ChatGPT ability to generate plausible but ultimately false responses is one of several well-known failings of AI text generation models.
2022 (December 27)	Impact	A BBC article discusses the potential of using chatbots, particularly ChatGPT, for political purposes. It explores the chatbot's ability to engage in simulated conversations, including Prime Minister's Questions, and highlights its polite and non-inflammatory responses. The chatbot's performance in writing an MP's maiden speech is also praised, with an example of a real MP using the chatbot to create a speech. However, it notes that the chatbot is not allowed to express political opinions or engage in activism. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical possibility of a robot becoming a prime minister, contingent on advancements in artificial intelligence and decision-making capabilities.
2023 (January 5)	Model behavior	A paper examines the political ideology of ChatGPT, and finds that it has a pro-environmental, left-libertarian orientation based on its responses to 630 political statements from voting advice applications and the political compass test. ChatGPT would impose taxes on flights, restrict rent increases, and legalize abortion. The findings are consistent across multiple languages and different experiment variations. The study highlights the potential impact of politically biased conversational AI on society.
2023 (January 27)	Competition	It is reported that South African business magnate Elon Musk plans to form a new AI research lab to develop an alternative to OpenAI's ChatGPT, after having approached AI researchers, including Igor Babuschkin. At this time, the project is still in its early stages, with no concrete plan to develop specific products.
2023 (January 27)	Impact	An article highlights the six major challenges facing ChatGPT at the time. These include capacity issues caused by overwhelming traffic, instances of plagiarism and cheating among students who utilize the chatbot, concerns regarding racism, sexism, and bias in its responses, accuracy problems resulting in incorrect information, the controversial training methods involving disturbing content and exploitation of low-cost workers, and the absence of a mobile app, leading to scams and unauthorized copycat applications. According to the article, these issues raise important ethical considerations and question the long-term viability of the chatbot in its current form.
2023 (January 30)	Competition	An article compares the translation capabilities of ChatGPT and Google Translate. It explains that a good translation goes beyond swapping words and should convey the meaning of the entire text, preserve tone and context, and handle challenges like language differences and colloquialisms. The article tests both tools with colloquialisms and finds that while Google Translate often provides literal translations, ChatGPT offers additional assistance by providing interpretations and meanings.
2023 (January 31)	Product launch	OpenAI launches a new tool, AI Text Classifier, to address concerns about cheating with ChatGPT. The tool aims to help teachers detect if a student or AI generated a particular assignment. While OpenAI acknowledges the tool's limitations, some school districts consider using ChatGPT as a teaching tool by this time. OpenAI also highlights the tool's potential in detecting disinformation campaigns and misuse of AI. In the meantime, higher education institutions debate responsible AI use, with some implementing guidelines to address ethical concerns.
2023 (January 31)	Growth	ChatGPT experiences its highest level of traffic with 28 million visitors in a single day.
2023 (February 1)	Product launch	OpenAI launches a pilot subscription plan called ChatGPT Plus, which offers faster response times, priority access to new features and improvements, and general access to ChatGPT even during peak times. The subscription costs $20/month and is available to customers worldwide. OpenAI still offers free access to ChatGPT but hopes to support its free access availability to as many people as possible through the subscription plan. OpenAI announces plans to refine and expand the offering based on user feedback and needs, and that it is actively exploring options for lower-cost plans, business plans, and data packs for more availability.
2023 (February 1)	Reception	A study explores the opinions and perceptions of academicians, netizens, and information professionals towards ChatGPT-3, using social media comments and a survey. The research suggests that while ChatGPT-3 can be useful for research and writing, it is not entirely accurate and should be cross-checked. It also suggests that most academicians are beginning to accept ChatGPT-3, despite some resistance. The study is useful for academics, content developers, and librarians.
2023 (February 2)	Growth	It is reported that ChatGPT reached an estimated 100 million monthly active users in January, just two months after its launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history, according to a UBS study. The growing usage, while imposing substantial computing cost on OpenAI, also provides valuable feedback to help train the chatbot's responses.
2023 (February 6)	Coverage	An article discusses the widespread attention and ethical concerns surrounding ChatGPT. While the chatbot demonstrated impressive capabilities, such as composing emails, writing code, and generating medical reports, concerns about its accuracy, biases, and potential for harmful outputs emerge. Errors in generated content and the risk of misinformation pose significant challenges, particularly in fields like healthcare and scholarly publishing. The article highlights the need for improved oversight, manual checks of automated outputs, and investment in AI output detectors to address these concerns and ensure responsible use of ChatGPT in various domains.
2023 (February 7)	Competition	Google presents its own AI chatbot called Bard, which is similar to ChatGPT. Google CEO Sundar Pichai says that Bard is more powerful and reliable than ChatGPT, as it draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses. Bard is part of a series of tools based on generative artificial intelligence that Google launches to the market at this time.
2023 (February 8)	Competition	Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group announces that it is developing a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT AI chatbot. The move comes as several other tech companies, including Google and Baidu, are also developing AI chatbot technology to rival ChatGPT.
2023 (February 8–28)	Performance	Several studies evaluate ChatGPT across a broad range of natural language processing tasks. A February 8 paper evaluates ChatGPT on 23 datasets covering eight natural language processing tasks, finding it outperforms other large language models on most tasks but struggles with reasoning and hallucination. A February 19 paper comparing ChatGPT with fine-tuned BERT (language model) on the GLUE benchmark finds ChatGPT performs well on inference tasks but struggles with paraphrase and similarity tasks, while performing comparably on sentiment analysis and question answering. A February 21 paper assessing ChatGPT across 25 analytical NLP tasks finds an average quality loss of about 25% compared to specialized models, with harder tasks showing greater degradation. A February 28 paper on cross-lingual summarization finds ChatGPT initially produces overly lengthy summaries but improves significantly with interactive prompting. Taken together, these studies paint an early picture of ChatGPT as a broadly capable but uneven system — strong on fluency and flexibility, weaker on precision and reasoning — a characterization that would persist and inform how developers, researchers, and policymakers approached the technology in the years ahead.
2023 (February 9–23)	Performance	Four studies probe ChatGPT's reliability in contexts where accuracy and consistency are particularly consequential. A February 9 study comparing students who used ChatGPT-3 as a writing assistant with those who did not finds that the tool fails to improve essay quality, with the control group outperforming the experimental group on most measures, suggesting that AI assistance does not automatically translate into better academic work. A February 15 study on human-centered design finds ChatGPT capable of generating personas, simulating user interviews, and evaluating user experience, but notes drawbacks including forgotten information, partial responses, and a lack of output diversity. A February 22 paper evaluating ChatGPT on adversarial and out-of-distribution benchmarks finds consistent advantages over baseline models but notes that absolute performance remains far from reliable, particularly in medical diagnosis tasks. A February 23 paper on health advice finds that external information provided in a prompt can override ChatGPT's internal knowledge and reduce answer correctness, raising concerns about the reliability of ChatGPT-based health question-answering systems. Together these studies reinforce a theme running through early ChatGPT research: impressive surface capability paired with fragile reliability, a combination that would fuel ongoing debates about appropriate use cases for the technology.
2023 (February 12–26)	Performance	Three studies examine whether ChatGPT can be usefully applied in technically demanding professional fields, with cautiously optimistic but qualified results. A February 12 letter introduces a semantic communication scheme called SCOI that uses ChatGPT to determine the importance order of words in a transmitted message, finding that this approach outperforms existing communication schemes in reducing transmission errors and semantic loss. A February 17 paper examining ChatGPT's use in Statistical Process Control finds it performs well on structured tasks but struggles with nuanced ones, emphasizing the need for validation when using it in technical research or education contexts. A February 26 paper on software architecture finds that ChatGPT can mimic an architect's role in analyzing and evaluating software applications but requires human oversight and decision support throughout. Taken together, these studies reflect a broader pattern visible across early ChatGPT research: the model shows genuine utility in specialized domains but consistently falls short of autonomous reliability, pointing toward a future of human-AI collaboration rather than AI replacement in technical fields.
2023 (February 14–23)	Performance	Two early studies probe ChatGPT's mathematical and reasoning abilities, exposing consistent weaknesses. A February 14 paper finds that while 70% of ChatGPT-generated algebra hints pass quality checks, human-created hints produce significantly higher learning gains in students. A February 23 paper evaluating ChatGPT on mathematical word problems from the DRAW-1K dataset finds a failure rate of 20% when the model shows its work, rising sharply to 84% when it does not. Taken together, these findings offer early systematic evidence of a gap between ChatGPT's fluency and its underlying reasoning ability — a distinction that would prove central to subsequent debates about the reliability of large language models in high-stakes domains like education, healthcare, and law.
2023 (February 15)	Policy update	OpenAI combines its use case and content policies into a unified set of usage policies. This consolidation provides more specific guidance on prohibited activities, particularly in high-risk industries, and aims to simplify and clarify the policy framework.
2023 (February 16)	Model behavior	Google's senior vice president, Prabhakar Raghavan, issues a warning about ChatGPT, expressing concerns that the technology could provide "completely fictitious" answers to questions, which he refers to as "hallucination." He adds that the huge language models behind this technology make it impossible for humans to monitor every conceivable behavior of the system. Around this time, teachers in the United Kingdom also consider how to prevent the use of ChatGPT to cheat on school coursework.
2023 (February 16–20)	Performance	Two studies examine ChatGPT's ability to process and extract information from unstructured text, with mixed but broadly encouraging results. A February 16 paper evaluating ChatGPT on four benchmark datasets for query and aspect-based text summarization finds its performance comparable to traditional fine-tuning methods, though the authors note important differences between ChatGPT-generated summaries and human references that warrant further investigation. A February 20 study introducing the ChatIE framework finds that ChatGPT can perform zero-shot information extraction — identifying entities, relations, and events from unannotated text — at a level that surpasses some fully supervised models on several datasets, suggesting that conversational prompting could reduce the cost and effort of building information extraction systems. Taken together, these findings point to text processing as an area of relative strength for ChatGPT — one that would underpin its later adoption in document-heavy fields such as law, medicine, and journalism.
2023 (February 16)	Model behavior	OpenAI shares a blog post describing how ChatGPT's behavior is shaped, as well as the company's plans for improving the behavior of the system, allowing more user customization, and getting more public input into decision-making. OpenAI explains that unlike ordinary software, their models are massive neural networks that learn from a broad range of data, not programmed explicitly. The models undergo a two-step process: pre-training and fine-tuning. OpenAI claims it is committed to robustly addressing biases in AI systems and being transparent about their intentions and progress. The company reports it is researching how to make the fine-tuning process more understandable and controllable, and building on external advances such as rule-based rewards and Constitutional AI.
2023 (February 20)	Reception	A paper analyzes over 300,000 tweets and 150 scientific papers to investigate how ChatGPT is perceived and discussed after its release in November 2022. The analysis shows that ChatGPT is generally viewed positively with high quality, but its perception has slightly decreased since its debut. Positive emotions dominate in social media, with joy being the most frequent, while negative sentiment and surprise are on the rise. ChatGPT is perceived more negatively in languages other than English. Scientific papers characterize ChatGPT as a great opportunity across various fields, including the medical domain, but also as a threat concerning ethics, with mixed assessments for education. The authors make their data available to contribute to shaping the public debate and informing future development.
2023 (February 23)	Performance	An article discusses the potential of ChatGPT as a translation tool and compares it to Google Translate. It highlights that ChatGPT is primarily a text-based system, while Google Translate offers live speech and image translation capabilities. The article presents an example comparing the translations of a tweet by both tools, where ChatGPT performs similarly to Google Translate with a minor difference in translation accuracy. It also mentions that ChatGPT seems to excel in translating content into English rather than the reverse. However, Google Translate has invested more in training for specific language combinations. The article concludes that while ChatGPT shows promise in translating text, language professionals can benefit from AI translation tools by using them judiciously alongside review and editorial processes to ensure quality and speed.
2023 (February 27)	Model behavior	A paper provides an overview of the technology behind ChatGPT. It discusses the historical background of chatbots and the potential applications of ChatGPT in various domains such as healthcare, education, and research. However, the paper also highlights the privacy and ethical concerns surrounding ChatGPT and the limitations of the current version. The paper includes an interview with ChatGPT and presents its responses to various questions.
2023 (February 27)	Adoption	The International Baccalaureate says that students can use content created by ChatGPT in their essays, but they must make it clear when they are quoting its responses and treat it as they would any other source. ChatGPT has the ability to produce plausible responses to text prompts, including requests to write essays. The IB, which is taken by thousands of children every year in the UK at more than 120 schools, says that the rise of chatbot technology would mean that essay writing will feature less prominently in future qualifications.
2023 (February)	Adoption	A Colombian judge reportedly uses ChatGPT to help rule on a case about the medical rights of a child with autism. The case is about whether the child's insurance should cover the bills for his medical treatments. The judge uses ChatGPT in accordance with a law in Colombia that allows the use of virtual tools in some cases. Opinions are divided, with some professionals opposing the use of AI in a legal setting, while others see it as a useful tool.
2023 (February)	Adoption	Small businesses in the United Arab Emirates turn to ChatGPT to reduce the amount of time spent on mundane tasks such as writing job descriptions and blog posts, thereby allowing them to concentrate on more creative aspects of their business. By this time, ChatGPT is used by large companies including Meta and Shopify. The Wall Street Journal speculates that the tool could eventually lead to job losses in some areas, although ChatGPT's flaws, including providing inaccurate responses, and the need for further regulation of AI technology so far prevent this for the time being.
2023 (February)	Performance	ChatGPT is found to perform poorly when asked to answer questions from Singapore's Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE), with an average score of 16 out of 100 marks for mathematics and 21 for science. It is found to make errors even in simple addition and can not understand or answer any questions that reference diagrams or graphs. However, ChatGPT manages to pass the English tests and scores an average of 11 out of 20 marks across the three papers it took. The bot's poor performance in exams raises concerns about the possibility of AI bots being used for cheating.
2023 (March 1)	Impact	Computational linguist Emily M. Bender at the University of Washington, warns about the dangers of humanizing language models like chatbots, stating that the machines are great at mimicry but poor at facts. Bender argues that the big question is how humans will handle themselves around these machines, as we have learned to make machines that can mindlessly generate text but have not learned how to stop imagining the mind behind it.
2023 (March 1)	Performance	A paper proposes a generic evaluation framework for Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically ChatGPT and InstructGPT, to assess human personalities based on Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) tests. The framework includes unbiased prompts, replacing the subject in question statements, and re-formulating question instructions. The study finds that ChatGPT is capable of assessing human personalities and achieves consistent and fairer assessments compared to InstructGPT, albeit with lower robustness against prompt biases. The proposed framework enables flexible assessments of personalities for different groups of people.
2023 (March 1)	Product launch	OpenAI launches an API for ChatGPT, enabling businesses to integrate this advanced technology into their applications, websites, and services. Priced at $0.002 per 1,000 tokens (equivalent to about 750 words), the API supports various "non-chat" applications. Powered by the robust AI model "gpt-3.5-turbo," the ChatGPT API offers versatile applications such as AI-powered tutoring, personalized shopping recommendations, and virtual assistance. This move to make ChatGPT more affordable attracts interest from companies like Microsoft, Shopify, Snapchat, and Instacart, highlighting its potential for chatbot development and language processing tasks.
2023 (March 2)	Performance	A paper presents an analysis of ChatGPT's ability to answer conceptual physics questions related to kinematics and Newtonian dynamics using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). The study shows that ChatGPT can perform as well as or better than the median performance of a university student who has completed one semester of college physics, although its performance is uneven. The paper raises questions about the use of conceptual assessment tools like the FCI, the implications of ChatGPT's performance for students and physics instruction, and the potential use of ChatGPT as an out-of-classroom aid for physics pedagogy.
2023 (March 2)	Impact	A paper presents a methodology to assess the impact of AI language models like ChatGPT on different occupations, industries, and geographies. The authors find that occupations like telemarketers and post-secondary teachers in subjects such as English language, literature, foreign language, and history are the most exposed to language modeling. The industries most exposed to advances in language modeling are legal services and securities, commodities, and investments.
2023 (March 3)	Competition	Microsoft unveils a new AI model, Kosmos-1, which can respond to visual cues or images and is capable of tasks such as visual question answering and image captioning. The model is a Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM), which allows the user to interact with it through text prompts, images, and videos. Kosmos-1 is seen as a key step toward artificial general intelligence, with researchers suggesting that multimodal perception is required to move beyond ChatGPT-like capabilities to AGI.
2023 (March 7)	Performance	A paper discusses the feasibility of using ChatGPT for event extraction, which is a challenging task due to the lack of annotated data. While by this time ChatGPT demonstrates impressive results in other tasks, it presents challenges for event extraction, which requires complex instructions defining all event types and their schemas. The authors conduct experiments to explore the feasibility of using ChatGPT for event extraction and find that it has only 51.04% of the performance of a task-specific model in complex scenarios. The paper concludes that the model is not robust enough and is highly sensitive to different prompt styles, which can result in a poor user experience.
2023 (March 9)	Literature	British-American computer scientist Stephen Wolfram publishes What Is ChatGPT Doing ... and Why Does It Work?, in which he explores ChatGPT's unexpected ability to write convincingly at a human level. Wolfram delves into the inner workings of ChatGPT, bridging modern neural net technology with ancient questions about language and human cognition, as posed by Aristotle over two millennia ago. The book offers insights into the AI's success and sheds light on the convergence of AI technology and age-old inquiries into human thought and language.
2023 (March 12)	Competition	California-based API-provider Together Computer releases OpenChatKit 0.15, the first open-source chatbot alternative to ChatGPT, under the Apache-2.0 license. The chat model has 20 billion parameters and was trained on 43 million instructions, and includes a generic chatbot and the necessary components to create specialized bots. The framework has four main parts, including a large language model tuned for chat, a set of customization recipes, a retrieval system, and a moderation model. The open-source foundation offered by OpenChatKit enables the development of domain-specific and general-purpose chatbots.
2023 (March 14)	Update	OpenAI announces GPT-4, the latest AI language model in its line of language models. GPT-4 can parse both text and image input but can only respond via text. The company cautions that GPT-4 retains some of the same problems as earlier models, such as the tendency to make up information and generate harmful text. By this time, OpenAI has partnered with companies including Duolingo, Stripe, and Khan Academy to integrate GPT-4 into their products, and it would also be available as an API for developers to build on. GPT-4 is available to the general public via OpenAI's ChatGPT Plus subscription. The company claims that GPT-4 is more creative and collaborative than ever before and can solve difficult problems with greater accuracy. ChatGPT would undergo an update utilizing the GPT-4 language model, which would expand its vocabulary to 25,000 words (eight times more than its previous version). In addition, the update would endow ChatGPT with the capacity to process image inputs as well as text, effectively making it a multimodal system.
2023 (March 15)	Expansion	OpenAI announces an update for ChatGPT that will allow it to communicate in Icelandic, making it the chatbot's second language. By this time, the language model GPT-4 is used to teach the program Icelandic. Previously, the Icelandic envoy, led by the president of Iceland, visited OpenAI in 2022 to request the addition of Icelandic. The Icelandic language technology center CEO calls the project a great victory for the Icelandic language.
2023 (March 16)	Criticism	An article reports on OpenAI facing criticism for not disclosing key details about its latest AI model, GPT-4. The company's decision to keep information about the model's architecture, hardware, and training methods private is attributed to the competitive landscape and safety implications surrounding large language models. By this time, the AI community has expressed concerns over OpenAI's lack of transparency, with some questioning the "open" nature of the company. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever admits that sharing research publicly was a mistake and emphasizes the need for caution in open-sourcing AI.
2023 (March 17)	Competition	Shares of Chinese search engine giant Baidu rise by almost 14% after users test and share positive experiences with Ernie Bot, Baidu's AI-powered chatbot designed to rival ChatGPT. The initial disappointment from investors due to a scripted and private launch is overshadowed by users livestreaming tests and comparing Ernie Bot favorably to US chatbots. Baidu's deep learning model, Ernie, serves as the foundation for the chatbot, and the company received over 75,000 applications for an Ernie API trial. Baidu reportedly aims to revolutionize its search engine and enhance efficiency in various areas, including cloud, smart cars, and household appliances, through Ernie Bot.
2023 (March 20)	Model behavior	ChatGPT experiences an outage due to a bug in an open-source library which allows some users to see titles from another active user's chat history. The bug is patched, and the ChatGPT service is restored with the exception of a few hours of chat history. Upon deeper investigation, OpenAI discovers that the same bug may have caused the unintentional visibility of payment-related information of 1.2% of ChatGPT Plus subscribers active during a specific nine-hour window. OpenAI reaches out to notify affected users that their payment information may have been exposed and is committed to rebuilding trust with the ChatGPT community.
2023 (March 21)	Competition	Google starts the public release of its chatbot Bard, allowing consumers to sign up to a waiting list for English-language access in the US and UK. The program was previously open to approved testers. Google describes Bard as an experiment in generative AI, which creates rather than identifies content. Bard, unlike ChatGPT, does not generate computer code and its memory is limited. It also includes a feature to show three versions of an answer.
2023 (March 23)	Update	OpenAI announces ChatGPT implementation support for plugins, which are tools designed for language models to access up-to-date information, run computations, or use third-party services with safety as a core principle. The feature is at first rolled out gradually for a small set of users and is expected to be expanded as more is learned about safety and alignment challenges. Plugin developers can use the provided documentation to build plugins, and the first plugins are created by companies such as Expedia, Slack, Wolfram Research, and Zapier.
2023 (March 28)	Impact	In an interview, American linguist Daniel Everett challenges Noam Chomsky's theory of "innate principles of language" and argues that ChatGPT has invalidated Chomsky's claims. Everett highlights the importance of considering social and cultural origins in language acquisition and suggests that current theories need revision. He believes that language and culture have a symbiotic relationship. Everett states that ChatGPT, with massive data, has shown the ability to learn language without innate grammar principles. He emphasizes the need for responsible and ethical AI development, with linguists and researchers playing a role in ensuring a balanced approach.
2023 (March 31)	Restriction	ChatGPT is subject to a temporary ban in Italy, due to suspicions that it may have breached the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) of the European Union. The temporary ban proves to be the opening move in a longer regulatory process: Italy's data protection authority continues its investigation after service is restored, ultimately issuing a €15 million fine against OpenAI in December 2024 for processing user data without adequate legal basis, failing to notify the authority of the March 2023 security breach, and lacking age verification mechanisms for minors — making it the first GDPR enforcement action in Europe concerning generative AI.
2023 (April 13)	Privacy	An article explores the privacy concerns surrounding ChatGPT. The chatbot collects various types of information, including account details, chat transcripts, and device information such as IP addresses and locations. According to the article, while some of this data collection is standard for online services, the real privacy risk lies in the potential disclosure of personal and confidential information inadvertently shared during conversations. OpenAI's privacy policy states that conversations may be reviewed by AI trainers, raising concerns about data usage and security. The article emphasizes the importance of users taking proactive measures to protect their privacy by refraining from sharing private information and carefully reviewing their interactions with ChatGPT.
2023 (April 17)	Competition	Elon Musk announces that he is working on "TruthGPT," an alternative to OpenAI's ChatGPT that would function as a "maximum truth-seeking AI." During an interview, Musk explains that he believes developing an AI that cares about understanding the universe is the best path to safety, as it is less likely to destroy humanity. He compares this to how humans protect chimpanzees, and positions "TruthGPT" as a more transparent option than OpenAI's for-profit subsidiary. At this time it is not clear how far along Musk's "TruthGPT" project is, but he previously tweeted about the need for such an AI and established a new AI company called X.AI in March.
2023 (April 25)	Update	OpenAI introduces a new feature that allows users to turn off their chat history when using its ChatGPT chatbot, which means conversations won't be used to train its AI models. However, the company would still store new conversations for up to 30 days to monitor for abuse before deleting them. The feature can be accessed by logging into the ChatGPT account and selecting the "Settings" option. OpenAI also introduces a way for subscribers of its new ChatGPT Business plan to preserve chat history while opting out of its use as training data.
2023 (April 30)	Restriction	ChatGPT becomes accessible again in Italy after it was temporarily restricted and banned by the Italian data-protection authority over privacy concerns. OpenAI says it had successfully "addressed or clarified" the issues raised by the regulator, and has offered a new tool to verify the age of users upon sign-up. The Italian regulator welcomes the measures but calls for more compliance, including implementing an age verification system and conducting an information campaign to inform Italians of their rights. OpenAI's cooperation with the Garante does not end the regulatory scrutiny: the authority continues a wider investigation into ChatGPT's data practices that concludes in December 2024 with a €15 million fine, accompanied by an order requiring OpenAI to conduct a six-month public awareness campaign across Italian media about how it collects data to train its AI systems.
2023 (May 18)	Security	An article warns about the security risks associated with the increasing adoption of ChatGPT and highlights three ways hackers can exploit its capabilities. Firstly, ChatGPT can be used for mass phishing, enabling hackers to create personalized emails quickly and impersonate others to increase the chances of successful attacks. To combat this, employee education and verification mechanisms are crucial. Secondly, ChatGPT's ability to understand and explain code makes it susceptible to reverse engineering, allowing hackers to manipulate software and gain access to company servers. This skill, previously limited to nation-states, is now accessible to basic hackers. Lastly, ChatGPT can serve as a mini-brain for smart malware, autonomously extracting data from hacked networks and servers. Its capacity to sift through large amounts of data autonomously makes it more dangerous than traditional malware. The article emphasizes the need for companies to stay vigilant, train employees on the cybersecurity risks of ChatGPT, and prioritize privacy and security measures to mitigate vulnerabilities.
2023 (May 18–22)	Growth	According to Data.ai's analysis, ChatGPT surpasses almost all other leading AI chatbot apps in the United States. ChatGPT achieves 480,000 installs between May 18 and 22, only outperformed by "Chat with Ask AI", with 590,000 installs between April 4th and 8th.
2023 (May 19)	Adoption	Hong Kong Baptist University initiates a trial for its teaching staff to use ChatGPT, with some professors expressing concerns about the lack of clear guidelines for its use. The university provides official accounts for staff to access the tool without a VPN as part of an agreement with Microsoft, which supports the software. However, no specific instructions are given on how to utilize the tool. While some professors are optimistic about the potential benefits of ChatGPT in reducing their workload, others criticize its effectiveness and highlight the absence of official parameters. Several faculty members emphasize the need for clear guidelines from the university to clarify the scope and appropriate applications of ChatGPT. The adoption of AI-based tools is not unique to Hong Kong Baptist University, as to date several other tertiary institutions in the city have embraced similar technologies while allowing staff and students to establish their own principles for usage.
2023 (May 19)	Extension	OpenAI releases a standalone ChatGPT app exclusively for iOS users, with plans to launch an Android version in the near future. The app allows users to conveniently chat with the bot while on the move and introduces several features. Notably, it supports voice input utilizing OpenAI's Whisper, an open-source speech recognition model. Additionally, the app synchronizes chat history across devices and accounts logged into the web version of ChatGPT. Subscribers of ChatGPT Plus are benefited with access to GPT-4, early access to upcoming features, and faster response times. At first available in the United States, the app is reported to be soon be accessible to users in other countries, including Android users.
2023 (May 24)	Integration	Opera unveils a new AI side panel called "Aria" in its browser, which is powered by ChatGPT. Aria acts as a web and browser expert, assisting users in finding information, generating text or code, and answering product queries. The feature becomes available for testing and is accessible through Opera One and the beta version of Opera for Android. Aria connects to OpenAI's GPT technology and provides up-to-date information from the internet.
2023 (May 24)	Security	An article highlights six risks that legal and compliance leaders should consider when utilizing ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. These risks include fabricated and inaccurate answers, data privacy and confidentiality concerns, model and output bias, intellectual property and copyright risks, cyber fraud risks, and consumer protection risks. Legal and compliance leaders are advised to establish guardrails and controls to mitigate these risks and ensure responsible use of generative AI tools within their organizations. They should emphasize the need for accuracy checks on ChatGPT's output, establish compliance frameworks for data privacy, stay updated on AI bias laws, monitor copyright law changes, address cyber fraud risks through coordination with cybersecurity personnel, and comply with consumer protection regulations and disclosure requirements. Failure to address these risks may expose enterprises to legal, reputational, and financial consequences, according to the author.
2023 (May 25)	Expansion	OpenAI expands the availability of its official ChatGPT app for iPhone and iPad to over 40 countries in addition to the United States. The app, which was initially launched in the US, can now be used in countries including Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
2023 (May 27)	Adoption	An article discusses a case where a lawyer used ChatGPT to assist in preparing a court filing. However, it was later discovered that the AI-generated content, including citations to court decisions, was entirely false. The lawyer claims to be unaware of the program's unreliability. The incident sparks discussions among legal professionals about the value and risks of using AI software in the legal field. It underscores the importance of human verification and caution when incorporating AI-generated information into legal documents. The case highlights the ongoing role of human professionals in the legal profession and the need for thorough authenticity checks.
2023 (May 29)	Competition	Nvidia announces plans to release more AI products, including an AI supercomputer platform called DGX GH200, whose primary goal is to assist tech companies in developing successors to ChatGPT. Big Tech firms like Microsoft, Meta, and Google's Alphabet are expected to be early users of this technology. While Nvidia remains at the forefront of AI chip development, other companies are also entering the AI space by this time, including Microsoft, which develops its own chip for ChatGPT-like applications.
2023 (June 8)	Adoption	A survey conducted by Morgan Stanley reveals that the adoption of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard is relatively low. Only 19% of respondents have used ChatGPT, and even fewer, 9% of respondents, have used Google Bard. The study finds that the majority of people who are not using chatbots are unlikely to use them in the next six months. While chatbots are commonly used for learning about new topics, the monetization of AI tools is still in the early stages at this time. However, the impact of AI on e-commerce and travel, particularly in terms of AI-enabled searches and recommendations, has the potential to boost revenue. Google, with its comprehensive and personalized travel search offering, has an advantage in this space.
2023 (June 8)	Adoption	Scientists claim having trained a machine learning algorithm to identify scientific papers generated by ChatGPT with over 99% accuracy. By this time, concerns have been raised about AI-generated text, as it can be difficult to distinguish from human writing, leading to potential issues of plagiarism or cheating. Researchers from the University of Kansas developed an algorithm that classifies papers written by scientists and by ChatGPT. The algorithm focuses on stylistic differences between human and AI writing, such as vocabulary richness, paragraph length, punctuation usage, and the use of specific language. However, it is reported that further studies are needed to determine the algorithm's robustness against lightly edited papers and different scientific journals.
2023 (June 9)	Adoption	An article by Brookings Institution discusses the implications of using ChatGPT in the healthcare industry. While the technology shows promise in improving patient-provider interactions and healthcare services, the article highlights concerns regarding interoperability and fairness. The US healthcare market is dominated by traditional providers who lack incentives for interoperability. The emergence of formidable competitors, such as technology companies like Amazon's OneMedical, poses a threat to traditional providers, leading them to withhold data. This could hinder interoperability and lead to a fragmented landscape with multiple AI programs of varying quality. Additionally, the use of large language models in healthcare services could exacerbate disparities in access to care, potentially creating a two-tier system. The article suggests government support, updated reimbursement policies, and a focus on value-based payment models to address these challenges.
2023 (June 9)	Security	Sam Altman calls for global cooperation in regulating generative artificial intelligence (AI) during a visit to South Korea. Altman emphasizes the need for international standards and collaboration as AI systems become increasingly powerful. He highlights the potential risks associated with the speed at which AI advancements are happening and stresses the importance of addressing these challenges globally. Altman's visit coincides with discussions among US, European, and Chinese officials on AI oversight and regulation. Altman also acknowledges the impact of AI on the job market but expresses optimism about the potential for new opportunities and human advancement in the future.
2023 (June 9)	Security	An article explores the contrasting views on the impact of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence on humanity. Richard Branson and others see AI as transformative and revolutionizing various aspects of life, while Elon Musk and the creators of ChatGPT express concerns about the potential risks and harm it may cause. There are fears that AI could be misused in human resource management and surpass regulation, leading to significant harm or even the extinction of humanity. The article highlights the need for government oversight and regulation to mitigate these risks. On the other hand, proponents argue that AI, including ChatGPT, can be beneficial for businesses by assisting in hiring processes and leveling the playing field for aspiring entrepreneurs. The article presents a debate between the potential benefits and risks associated with AI, leaving the question open-ended.
2023 (June 9)	Performance	Researchers find that ChatGPT-3.5 has a limited knowledge of jokes and tends to repeat the same ones. In a test run, 90% of the 1,008 jokes generated by ChatGPT are the same 25 jokes. This suggests that the responses are likely memorized during the AI model's training rather than being newly generated. While ChatGPT provides valid explanations for the jokes and shows an understanding of wordplay and double meanings, it struggles with sequences that don't fit learned patterns and can't determine when a joke isn't funny. The researchers believe that despite its limitations, ChatGPT's focus on content and meaning represents progress in the field of computational humor.
2023 (June 10)	Security	An article warns about the potential for ChatGPT 3.5 to be exploited by hackers to spread malicious code from trusted repositories. Security researchers at Vulcan.io conducted a proof of concept that revealed how ChatGPT could recommend non-existent code packages to users. Out of the Node.js and Python questions asked, a significant number of ChatGPT's answers contained hallucinated code packages. The researchers created a non-malicious package with the same name as a non-existent package in the repository, and when a user followed ChatGPT's recommendation to install it, the package communicated with the attacker's server. The researchers advise caution and verification when using ChatGPT's recommendations.
2023 (June 12)	Adoption	It is reported that physicians are utilizing ChatGPT to engage with patients more empathetically. This raises questions about the balance between objective medical guidance and human compassion. While some experts argue that ChatGPT can simplify explanations by avoiding complex medical jargon, others express concerns. Microsoft, collaborating closely with OpenAI, is unsure about using the chatbot for delivering bad medical news. Critics highlight the importance of human compassion in healthcare, emphasizing that relying on a tool that lacks the ability to distinguish right from wrong may worsen patient experiences and potentially impact medical decisions.
2023 (June 13)	Impact	Sam Altman speaks to students at Keio University in Tokyo, highlighting the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in education. Altman compares AI tools to calculators, stating that they will revolutionize teaching and evaluation methods. While acknowledging concerns about potential misuse and reliance on AI for original work, Altman emphasizes the need for regulations and safety measures in the AI field. He expresses positivity about new regulatory frameworks for AI but stresses the importance of taking responsibility in case of any negative outcomes. Altman also addresses concerns about job displacement, stating that new classes of jobs will emerge despite some jobs becoming obsolete.
2023 (June 15)	Integration	Mercedes-Benz and Microsoft agree to integrate ChatGPT into Mercedes-Benz cars in the United States. The addition of ChatGPT aims to enhance voice-command capabilities in Mercedes vehicles, allowing for more natural and fluid conversations with the system. ChatGPT can remember context, engage in back-and-forth dialogue, and respond to a wider range of requests, even those unrelated to the car or driving. It can also interact with other applications for tasks like making reservations or purchasing tickets. Mercedes owners with the MBUX infotainment system can beta test ChatGPT by using the voice command "Hey Mercedes, I want to join the beta program."
2023 (June 16)	Impact	An article discusses the potential impact of AI, specifically ChatGPT, on various job roles within the following five years. IBM's AI, WatsonX, is expected to replace 8,000 jobs in the company's HR department. By this time, automation is also affecting customer service tasks, although human reps who handle emotional situations would still be valuable. In the field of medicine, AI would primarily assist in diagnostics, allowing physicians to focus on other aspects of patient care. Coders and programmers may see a decrease in the need for mundane tasks as AI can handle them. Content writing tasks could be taken over by ChatGPT, but its factual accuracy is still evolving.
2023 (June 16)	Restriction	It is reported that some companies are banning ChatGPT due to concerns over security and privacy. Uploading work-related information to an AI platform owned by another company poses potential risks, as the data may be stored on their servers without a way to access or delete it. Companies fear that proprietary or sensitive information given to ChatGPT could be unintentionally shared with others. By this time, OpenAI has experienced security issues with ChatGPT and is still addressing them. As a result, some companies opt to develop their own AI platforms as safer alternatives. While some companies embrace ChatGPT for cost-saving and content generation purposes, many see more risks than benefits in its use.
2023 (June 22)	Adoption	Two lawyers who used fake cases generated by ChatGPT are fined $5,000 and ordered to inform the judges involved about the situation. New York District Judge P. Kevin Castel rules that the lawyers, Steven Schwartz and Peter LoDuca, acted in bad faith and misled the court by knowingly presenting false cases. While Judge Castel acknowledges the potential benefits of using AI tools for legal assistance, he emphasizes that the lawyers neglected their responsibilities and failed to rectify their mistakes. The case marks a significant instance of sanctions related to the use of AI in the legal field.
2023 (June 27)	Integration	Booking.com introduces conversational chat capabilities to its mobile app by integrating ChatGPT API. The AI Trip Planner allows users to receive travel recommendations based on their preferences described in natural language. The chat platform is integrated with Booking.com's accommodation booking experience, providing users with a visual list of properties that meet their queries. Future plans include integrating other travel components such as flights, ground transportation, and attractions into the chat. The AI Trip Planner is initially available to Booking.com's loyalty members in the United States through the mobile app, with plans to extend it to the desktop platform later.
2023 (July 12)	Competition	An article discusses the recent downtime of ChatGPT and provides alternative AI tools and chatbots for users to consider. The outage led to frustration among users, and OpenAI confirmed the issue and worked to resolve it. The mentioned alternatives include Google Bard; Midjourney, a text-to-image AI generator; Copy.ai, a platform for copywriting; Tableau, an analytics and data visualization platform; Murf, an AI tool for text-to-speech conversion; Jasper, an AI tool for writing various content types; Fireflies, an AI tool for real-time voice transcription; and Pictory, a video editing tool for creating branded clips.
2023 (July 13)	Model behavior	The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launches an investigation into ChatGPT to determine if it has caused harm by providing users with incorrect information. The FTC reportedly also examines OpenAI's privacy and data security practices. In a letter to OpenAI, the agency requests company records and data on various topics, including policies, financial earnings, and details of the Large Language Models used to train the chatbot. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, expresses disappointment in the leak of the FTC's request but emphasizes the company's commitment to ensuring the safety and consumer-friendliness of its technology. This investigation marks a significant step in government regulatory action within the AI industry. The FTC, under Chair Lina Khan, has been actively pursuing major tech companies and has stated that AI is subject to consumer protection laws.
2023 (July 14)	Competition	Meta Platforms reportedly plans to release a commercial version of its open-source large language model (LLM), called LLaMA. LLaMA uses AI to generate text, images, and code. Initially introduced as a foundational model for researchers and academics, the commercial release of LLaMA would allow developers and businesses to build applications using the model. With LLaMA available in different parameter sizes, Meta aims to compete with OpenAI, which leads the AI race with ChatGPT, and Google's proprietary LLMs.
2023 (July 20)	Update	OpenAI introduces custom instructions for ChatGPT users, allowing them to set specific context and preferences for the chatbot's responses. This feature enables users to avoid repeatedly providing the same prompts during interactions. With custom instructions, users can specify details like preferred tone, code language, family size, and more. The feature is available for Plus plan users and works with plug-ins, providing location-based suggestions. OpenAI uses the data from custom instructions to improve model performance and adaptation to different instructions. The company ensures safety by moderating instructions to prevent harmful or hateful responses.
2023 (July 22)	Extension	OpenAI launches the official ChatGPT app for Android, following its release on iOS earlier. The company allows users to pre-register for installation on the Google Play Store. The Android app boasts improved security measures and features like conversation history synchronization. With this move, OpenAI competes directly with Microsoft's Bing Chat, which also utilizes GPT-4 technology. The release comes amidst emerging competitors in the chatbot market.
2023 (July 25)	Expansion	OpenAI releases ChatGPT for Android in the United States, India, Bangladesh, and Brazil. Initially available for preorders on Google Play, it becomes live in these selected countries. The Android release is a significant milestone for OpenAI, as there are more Android users globally. The mobile interface is optimized for ease of use, allowing users to interact with ChatGPT as if messaging a friend. Existing OpenAI account holders can access past conversations across devices. Additionally, ChatGPT Plus, which offers a better language model and more features, is available through an in-app purchase for Android users.
2023 (July 27)	Security	A report by US-based researchers reveals a method to consistently bypass safety measures in AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard, allowing them to generate harmful content. The researchers append long suffixes of characters to prompts, enabling chatbots to produce hate speech, disinformation, and toxic material. While companies like OpenAI and Google can block specific suffixes, preventing all attacks of this kind remains challenging. The research raises concerns about chatbots flooding the internet with dangerous content and misinformation. AI developers, including Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, were presented with the findings for their responses. This highlights the need to address vulnerabilities before deploying chatbots in sensitive domains.
2023 (August 14)	Impact	Due to rampant cheating using OpenAI's ChatGPT, it is reported that some college professors are reverting to paper exams. Students are found to copy assignments verbatim from ChatGPT, leading educators to ban the use of AI and return to traditional testing methods. Despite mixed reactions, such as computer science major Ronan Takizawa acknowledging its regressive nature yet promoting better understanding, the move intends to ensure students grasp concepts and skills.
2023 (August 14)	Maintenance	A report reveals that running ChatGPT costs OpenAI about $700,000 per day, with investments from Microsoft and others covering these expenses. However, concerns arise about the company's financial stability, suggesting the possibility of bankruptcy by the end of 2024. Despite projecting a potential revenue of $200 million in 2023 and aiming for $1 billion in 2024, OpenAI's losses mount to date, notably with $540 million since ChatGPT's development initiation. The report indicates a decline in user visits to the ChatGPT website, potentially due to API cannibalization and competition from open-source models like Meta's Llama 2. Additionally, the GPU shortage and Elon Musk's alternative chatbot contribute to the challenges OpenAI faces.
2023 (August 28)	Product launch	OpenAI launches ChatGPT Enterprise, a business-tier version of its AI chatbot. ChatGPT Enterprise offers access to GPT-4 without usage caps, delivers performance up to two times faster than previous versions, and includes API credits. The pricing for ChatGPT Enterprise varies depending on the company's use cases and size. It allows clients to input company data to customize ChatGPT for their industries and use cases. OpenAI plans to introduce ChatGPT Business for smaller teams in the future. The launch comes as tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and others compete to advance generative AI in chatbot applications. Enterprise reception is mixed: while companies that had previously restricted ChatGPT over data privacy concerns welcome the security assurances, analysts note that hallucinations and lack of transparency about the model's training data remain unresolved concerns, and a survey conducted around the same time finds that some 75% of businesses worldwide are implementing or considering plans to prohibit ChatGPT and other generative AI tools in the workplace.
2023 (September 11)	Adoption	It is reported that ChatGPT website is in gradual decline in global desktop and mobile traffic across three months, with a 3.2 percent drop in August, totaling 1.43 billion visits. This trend follows roughly 10 percent declines in website visits in June and July. Visitor session durations also show decrease monthly since March, falling from an average of 8.7 minutes per session to 7 minutes in August. However, there is a slight increase in the number of unique visitors worldwide in August, reaching 180.5 million users. The return of students to school, with some institutions integrating ChatGPT into their curriculum, also boosts traffic and usage, particularly for homework assistance. Despite these challenges, ChatGPT initially gained 100 million monthly active users within two months of its November 2022 launch. It ranks among the top 30 global websites, but it faces increasing competition from other AI chatbots like Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing chatbot.
2023 (September 11)	Performance	ChatGPT plays a pivotal role in diagnosing a young boy who suffered chronic pain for three years and saw 17 doctors without receiving a conclusive diagnosis. Frustrated and exhausted, Alex's mother turns to ChatGPT, providing it with her son's medical information and symptoms. ChatGPT suggests tethered cord syndrome, which turns out to be the correct diagnosis. Tethered cord syndrome restricts spinal cord movement, leading to various symptoms. While ChatGPT aids in the diagnosis, it's noted that the AI has limitations, including occasional fabrication of information, highlighting the importance of clinical validation in healthcare AI. Alex undergoes surgery to treat his condition, and his mother shares their story to help others facing similar challenges.
2023 (September 12)	Legal	A group of authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, file a lawsuit against OpenAI in a San Francisco federal court, accusing the company of using their writings without permission to train ChatGPT. The authors argue that OpenAI copied their works to teach ChatGPT to respond to human text prompts. This lawsuit is the third proposed copyright-infringement class action against Microsoft-backed OpenAI by authors. OpenAI and other companies claim that using copyrighted material from the internet for AI training constitutes fair use. The authors seek damages and an injunction against OpenAI's alleged "unlawful and unfair business practices." The lawsuit is subsequently consolidated with other author and publisher copyright actions against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York, forming a major multidistrict litigation; by late 2025, a federal judge denies OpenAI's motion to dismiss the authors' copyright infringement claims, ruling that ChatGPT outputs could be found substantially similar to the plaintiffs' original works, and orders OpenAI to produce 20 million anonymized chat logs for the plaintiffs' review.
2023 (September 13)	Competition	Alibaba releases its large language model Tongyi Qianwen, which is made available for public and enterprise use in China. Tongyi Qianwen, similar to ChatGPT, was previously in a beta test phase and is trained on English and Chinese text, although its exact specifications are undisclosed. This release coincides with the relaxation of AI technology restrictions in China, which now require vetting and certification for public AI tech. Companies like Baidu, Tencent, TikTok, and ByteDance have already received approval to launch AI models in China by this time. In contrast, the U.S. remains in the early stages of AI regulation discussions.
2023 (September 15)	Competition	An article discusses the competition between ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro, two subscription-based AI chatbot services. While both are based on large language models, they differ in their underlying models. ChatGPT Plus relies on GPT-4, known for advanced reasoning and creativity, while Claude Pro uses Claude 2, designed for summarization and ethical alignment. Both offer free versions and APIs for customization. They both cost $20/month and have similar performance, with ChatGPT being slightly more creative and Claude Pro excelling in summarizing large text volumes. The choice depends on personal preference and specific needs, with ChatGPT offering more features, including plugins, while Claude Pro emphasizes summarization and ethical AI.
2023 (September 16)	Performance	A study conducted by Emory University School of Medicine finds that ChatGPT performs well in diagnosing eye-related complaints and outperforms the symptom checker on WebMD. ChatGPT is seen as an improvement over searching symptoms online, but it raises questions about how to integrate chatbots like ChatGPT into healthcare systems. Some believe that AI-based medical tools should undergo a regulatory approval process similar to that of drugs, but there's no clear framework for this yet. Despite the potential advantages, concerns about privacy, safety, bias, liability, transparency, and regulation persist in the deployment of AI in healthcare.
2023 (September 20)	Update	OpenAI unveils DALL-E 3, an advanced version of its image generator, which is integrated into ChatGPT. DALL-E 3 can create highly detailed images, excelling in generating images with letters, numbers, and human hands. This development enhances ChatGPT's capabilities as a hub for generative AI, producing text, images, sounds, and more. With DALL-E 3 integrated into ChatGPT, users can describe what they want to see, generating images through the chatbot, streamlining media production. However, OpenAI is cautious about the technology's potential for misuse and is implementing safeguards.
2023 (November 6)	Update	OpenAI introduces GPTs—customizable versions of ChatGPT for specific tasks or purposes. These no-code tools allow users to tailor ChatGPT with instructions, skills, and knowledge to suit personal, educational, or professional needs. GPTs can integrate external APIs, enabling real-world applications like database queries or e-commerce support. A GPT Store will feature creations, allowing users to share or monetize their GPTs. Privacy and safety are prioritized, with robust controls and reporting systems in place. Enterprise users can deploy internal GPTs securely. ChatGPT Plus now offers fresher data, unified features, and file attachment support for enhanced usability.
2023 (December 14)	Adoption	The Albanian Government partners with OpenAI to use ChatGPT for translating and incorporating EU legal measures into Albanian, aiming to expedite its EU accession process. This approach, proposed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, seeks to replace many translators and legal experts, saving costs and time. The project involves translating 280,000 pages of EU laws, with the AI-assisted legislation set to be presented at the Euro summit. Additionally, Albania reports plans to use ChatGPT for public administration and procurement to combat corruption.
2024 (January 10)	Product launch	The GPT Store is launched for ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users, offering a curated selection of useful and popular custom versions of ChatGPT. Users can explore over 3 million custom GPTs created by the community, with categories including writing, research, programming, education, and lifestyle. Featured GPTs, such as personalized trail recommendations from AllTrails and coding tutorials from Khan Academy, are highlighted weekly. Builders can share their GPTs in the store by following simple guidelines. A GPT builder revenue program is announced to be launched, and Team and Enterprise customers can manage GPTs securely within their workspace. The launch is preceded by concerns from developers about copycat apps, with reports emerging before opening day that GPT creators' work could be copied without authorization since OpenAI offers limited protections for prompt-based creations; later in 2024, the promised builder revenue-sharing program fails to materialize for most small developers, with only a select few invited to a pilot program.
2024 (January 10)	Policy update	OpenAI updates its Usage Policies to offer clearer, more detailed guidance on acceptable usage. This revision enhances the comprehensibility of the policies and provides additional service-specific information to support better compliance.
2024 (January 10)	Product launch	ChatGPT Team is introduced as a new plan designed for teams of all sizes, providing a secure and collaborative workspace tailored for utilizing ChatGPT in professional settings. With access to advanced models like GPT-4 and tools such as DALL·E 3 and Advanced Data Analysis, ChatGPT Team empowers teams to enhance productivity and workflow efficiency. Features include a dedicated workspace, admin tools for team management, and the ability to create and share custom GPTs within the team. With no training on business data or conversations, teams can trust the privacy and security of their information. ChatGPT Team costs $25/month per user annually or $30/month per user monthly.
2024 (February 13)	Product launch	OpenAI publishes on ChatGPT testing memory capabilities, allowing it to remember specific details discussed in chats to enhance future conversations. Users have control over ChatGPT's memory, including the ability to enable or disable it, ask what it remembers, and request forgetting of specific information. Memories are not tied to individual conversations and can be managed through settings. Additionally, users can engage in temporary chats without memory. For enterprise and team users, memory can improve efficiency by learning preferences and streamlining tasks. Memories are not shared with builders, ensuring privacy. It is announced that GPTs will also have memory capabilities, enabling personalized interactions.
2024 (May 13)	Product launch	OpenAI releases GPT-4o, its latest flagship model, which is designed for real-time interaction across text, audio, image, and video inputs, generating corresponding outputs seamlessly. It boasts fast response times to audio inputs, matching human conversation speeds, and excels in understanding non-English text while being more cost-effective. Unlike previous models, GPT-4o processes all inputs and outputs through a single neural network, eliminating the need for multiple models in pipelines. This integration allows for more nuanced interactions, including tone detection, handling multiple speakers, and expressing emotions like laughter or singing. GPT-4o represents a significant advancement in natural human-computer interaction capabilities. The launch was not without controversy: the voice called "Sky" in GPT-4o's new voice mode drew immediate public criticism for its resemblance to actress Scarlett Johansson's AI character in the film Her, with Johansson stating she had previously declined OpenAI's request to use her voice; OpenAI subsequently paused the Sky voice and denied the resemblance was intentional, while the incident drew broader attention to questions of voice likeness and artists' rights in the AI era.
2024 (May 30)	Product launch	ChatGPT Edu is introduced as a specialized version tailored for universities to responsibly deploy AI across campus operations, research, and education. Powered by GPT-4o, ChatGPT Edu offers advanced capabilities like text and vision reasoning, data analysis, and document summarization. With enterprise-level security and controls, it's designed to meet the unique needs of educational institutions, following the success of universities like the University of Oxford and Columbia University. ChatGPT Edu enables personalized tutoring, research support, and innovative projects like integrating AI into community interventions. It includes access to GPT-4o, higher message limits, improved language capabilities, and robust security features, ensuring privacy and compliance. The product launches against a backdrop of significant faculty resistance to generative AI in higher education: a survey by Tyton Partners conducted by fall 2023 finds that only about 20% of US college faculty had tried AI tools more than twice, even as the same survey shows that around 75% of faculty — including those who do not use AI — believe students will need AI skills to succeed in the labor market.
2024 (June 5)	Partnership	Apple partners with OpenAI with the purpose to integrate ChatGPT into its Apple Intelligence platform, enhancing iOS, iPadOS, and macOS with advanced AI capabilities. ChatGPT would supplement Siri, providing broader knowledge and advanced responses when needed, and integrate into Apple's systemwide writing tools for text generation and image creation via OpenAI's DALL-E 3 model. Apple ensures user privacy through opt-in consent, IP address protection, and limiting personal data sharing. While Apple Intelligence relies on on-device models for contextual tasks, ChatGPT offers cloud-based general-purpose AI. This collaboration benefits Apple by advancing its AI ecosystem while giving OpenAI exposure to millions of Apple users.
2024 (June 11)	Competition	Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices at his companies if Apple integrates OpenAI's ChatGPT into iPhones and MacBooks. Apple just announced the integration to enhance AI capabilities across their devices, allowing seamless use of ChatGPT with Siri and other tools. Musk criticizes this move as a security risk, stating visitors to X's headquarters would have to leave Apple devices in a Faraday cage. Musk, a former co-founder of OpenAI, has been critical of the company.
2024 (June 19)	Competition	A review reports that ChatGPT leads popularity among AI tools with 2.5 billion visits from March to May 2024, followed by Google's Gemini with 1.27 billion. Other notable tools include DeepL, Character, Perplexity, Claude, Poe, and Microsoft's Copilot. These tools offer diverse functionalities, from translation and chatbot interactions to AI-powered assistants integrated into software like Microsoft Word and Outlook. By this time, the competition in AI has intensified, with tech giants and startups alike developing and refining their models to capture user interest.
2024 (June 20)	Performance	Physicians from Boston hospitals publish study on ChatGPT and Google Translate for translating pediatric discharge instructions, comparing them to professional services. They translated instructions into Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Haitian Creole, evaluating adequacy, fluency, meaning, severity, and overall preference. Results show Google Translate and ChatGPT match professional translations for Spanish and Portuguese but lags in Haitian Creole, with more significant errors. The study concludes that machine translations are comparable to professional ones in some languages but need improvements for others. It highlights the need for diverse multilingual training data and regulations for safe clinical use of machine translations.
2024 (June 24)	Adoption	Researchers from Nankai University use ChatGPT to help design perovskite solar cells, achieving higher efficiency than reference cells. The AI identifies materials to reduce surface recombination, improving power conversion efficiency. They specifically use polyallylamine (PAA) after verifying its potential in databases. Experimenting with PAA on hybrid perovskite cells results in an average efficiency increase of about 2%, with a maximum efficiency of 22.75%. This study, published in Cell Reports Physical Science, highlights AI's utility in generating hypotheses and advancing material science research.
2024 (June 27)	Integration	Audi announces integration of ChatGPT into its vehicles' voice control systems to enhance user interaction. Starting July 2024, around two million Audi models from 2021 onwards with the third-generation modular infotainment system (MIB 3) would benefit from this upgrade. Newer models like the Audi Q6 e-tron and future vehicles with the E3 1.2 electronics architecture would also feature this enhancement. This integration, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and Cerence Chat Pro, would allow drivers to operate infotainment, navigation, and other systems through natural language, improving safety and user experience. Data security is a priority, ensuring privacy by deleting queries and responses after processing.
2024 (July 11)	Adoption	The Tony Blair Institute urges the UK to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT to stay competitive globally. The report highlights the need for the UK to lead in AI innovation, while addressing the risks and societal impacts of automation. It recommends policy changes to foster AI development and ensure that the benefits are widely shared across the economy.
2024 (July 25)	Product launch	OpenAI introduces an AI search engine for ChatGPT, enhancing its capabilities with real-time web access and data retrieval. This feature integrates with Bing, allowing users to obtain up-to-date information and interact with third-party websites via plugins. Initially, the feature is available to a limited group of users. The new AI search engine aims to compete with traditional search engines like Google by offering functionalities such as text, image, and video responses, multimodal outputs, and personalized interactions. This development is part of OpenAI's broader strategy to improve ChatGPT's usefulness and versatility for users. Concerns about the reliability of AI-powered search are widespread at this time: researchers and journalism organizations warn that generative search engines tend to produce inaccurate or fabricated citations, sacrifice information provenance for fluency, and risk reducing traffic to the publishers whose content they draw upon.
2024 (August)	Growth	ChatGPT reaches 200 million weekly active users. This milestone marks a significant increase in user engagement since its launch. The surge in users is attributed to various factors, including widespread adoption in diverse industries, improved functionalities, and the expansion of use cases beyond just chat interactions. By this time, ChatGPT has become a key player in the digital landscape. Additionally, the increased usage reflects the growing reliance on AI tools for both professional and personal tasks.
2024 (September 26)	Impact	An article discusses how ChatGPT is transforming writing by influencing language, style, and the overall approach to content creation. It argues that while ChatGPT can enhance productivity, it also poses challenges, such as the risk of generating superficial or formulaic text. The author highlights that reliance on AI for writing can lead to a decline in critical thinking and originality among writers. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining individual voice and creativity despite the convenience offered by generative AI tools. Additionally, the article addresses the broader implications for education and communication as AI continues to evolve in its writing capabilities.
2024 (September 30)	Impact	An article from PR Week discusses the transformative impact of AI technologies, particularly ChatGPT, on communication over the past two years. It highlights how conversational agents have revolutionized various sectors, including customer service, education, and healthcare. The advancements in AI have enabled these tools to provide instant support, personalize learning experiences, and improve accessibility to medical information. ChatGPT's evolution, driven by deep learning techniques, has significantly enhanced its ability to generate coherent and contextually relevant text, making it a valuable resource in content creation, language translation, and as personal assistants.
2024 (September 30)	Impact	An article discusses a teacher's decision to leave the profession due to the increasing influence of ChatGPT and other AI tools in education. The teacher expresses concerns that AI-generated content undermines the value of traditional teaching methods, particularly in writing and critical thinking. She argues that students may become overly reliant on AI for assignments, diminishing their ability to engage deeply with material and develop essential skills. The teacher reflects on the emotional toll of witnessing students' decreasing motivation and the erosion of meaningful learning experiences. Overall, the article raises critical questions about the future of education in an era where AI technologies are becoming more prevalent.
2024 (October 31)	Product launch	ChatGPT introduces an enhanced search feature that allows users to receive quick, accurate answers alongside links to relevant web sources. This integration blends the benefits of natural language processing with real-time information like sports scores, news, and weather updates. Available for Plus and Team users, it facilitates more conversational inquiries and provides deeper insights with context. Users can access this feature on chatgpt.com and the mobile app, with plans for broader rollout to other users soon. This update expects to connect audiences with high-quality content while enhancing the search experience. Independent testing finds significant accuracy problems with the new search feature: a study by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University finds that ChatGPT misattributes news content in a large majority of cases, while a Poynter analysis finds that search results disproportionately favor news outlets that have signed commercial deals with OpenAI, raising concerns about both reliability and editorial independence.
2024 (November 19)	Product launch	OpenAI introduces ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode to the web, enabling users to interact with the AI chatbot through voice directly from their browser. Announced by Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil on X, the feature enhances natural conversational abilities with the chatbot. It is made available exclusively to paying subscribers, including Plus, Enterprise, Teams, and Edu users.
2024 (December 11)	Integration	Apple Inc. integrates ChatGPT into Siri with its latest iOS 18.2 update for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. This feature allows Siri to handle complex questions by tapping into OpenAI's GPT-4 model when appropriate, with user consent. Apple emphasizes privacy, stating OpenAI won't store requests. Users can access the integration without an OpenAI account, though paid ChatGPT versions are available through Apple. This move is seen as a significant step in Apple's AI strategy, potentially boosting iPhone sales and strengthening its position in consumer AI. The update also includes Apple's image-generation app, Playground, and the Image Wand tool for editing photos.
2025 (March 3)	Partnership	The University of Oxford and OpenAI announce a five-year collaboration to enhance artificial intelligence (AI) research and education. This partnership provides Oxford's students and faculty with access to research grants, advanced AI tools, and enterprise-level security, building upon the university's existing AI & Machine Learning Competency Centre. A key initiative involves digitizing 3,500 global dissertations from Oxford's Bodleian Libraries, making previously inaccessible materials available online. Additionally, Oxford researchers are granted access to OpenAI's latest models, including o1 and 4o, to accelerate their work in areas such as health and climate change.
2025 (March 3)	Model behavior	A study by researchers from Israel, the US, and Germany examine how ChatGPT (GPT-4) reacts to emotionally difficult stories. They find that traumatic content, such as accounts of military experiences, natural disasters, and interpersonal violence, significantly increases the AI's measured "anxiety levels." This mirrors how human biases are influenced by fear and stress. To counteract this, researchers had successfully used therapeutic prompts—soothing text injected into chat history—to "calm" the AI. This technique can improve AI stability in sensitive contexts, like mental health support, without requiring extensive retraining, making AI more reliable in emotionally charged interactions.
2025 (March 20)	Controversy	ChatGPT falsely accuses a Norwegian user, Arve Hjalmar Holmen, of murdering his children, mixing real personal details with fabricated claims. This AI "hallucination" highlights ongoing issues with false information in ChatGPT, which had previously generated defamatory accusations. The data protection group noyb files a complaint against OpenAI with Norway's Datatilsynet, citing GDPR violations. OpenAI acknowledges potential errors with disclaimers but does not allow users to correct misinformation. While ChatGPT by this time searches the internet for data, inaccurate information may persist in its dataset. noyb demands corrective measures, including model fine-tuning and potential fines to prevent further reputational harm.
2025 (March 25)	Product launch	OpenAI unveils its advanced image generation capabilities within the GPT-4o model. This new feature allows for precise, accurate, and photorealistic image creation. GPT-4o enhances image generation with its multimodal capabilities, seamlessly blending text, pixels, and sound. The model excels in creating useful images, such as infographics, logos, and diagrams, while maintaining visual fluency and context awareness. It can also refine images through natural conversation, ensuring consistency across iterations. This breakthrough makes image generation a powerful tool for communication and creativity, evolving beyond artistic visuals into functional, information-rich designs. The feature immediately reignites copyright debates: users flooding social media with Studio Ghibli-style images prompt criticism from artists and legal observers, while Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, who had previously described AI-generated art as an "insult to life itself," is cited as having sought legal options to protect the studio's distinctive style, and OpenAI subsequently adds a refusal blocking image generation in the style of living artists.
2025 (April 1)	Growth	The recent launch of ChatGPT-4o, with its new image-generation feature that creates Studio Ghibli-style artwork, has led to a surge in user activity, breaking records in downloads, user engagement, and revenue. OpenAI, overwhelmed by the demand, is facing GPU capacity issues, which have caused delays and disruptions in the service. The trend of creating Ghibli-inspired images has gone viral, attracting widespread attention, including from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Despite the technical challenges, the feature has proven to be highly popular and has significantly boosted ChatGPT's growth.
2025 (May)	Product launch	OpenAI integrates its GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini models into ChatGPT, enhancing coding and instruction-following capabilities. GPT-4.1 surpasses GPT-4o in performance, offering a one-million-token context window and improved speed, making it suitable for software development tasks. GPT-4.1 mini, now the default for all ChatGPT users, provides a balance between efficiency and performance. These models were initially available via API but are now accessible to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers, with Enterprise and Education access forthcoming. OpenAI emphasizes that GPT-4.1 is not a frontier model, thus not requiring extensive safety reporting, but has committed to increased transparency through a new Safety Evaluations Hub.
2025 (July 9)	Feature update	OpenAI introduces a new ChatGPT feature called "Study Together," designed to foster interactive learning by encouraging users to think and respond rather than simply receiving direct answers. The feature guides users with questions, acting more like a tutor or study partner than an answer engine. Although still experimental and not officially announced for broader release, it signals OpenAI's aim to promote active, ethical use of AI in education. This move comes amid increasing debate over AI's role in academic integrity and growing competition from Google's LearnLM. "Study Together" is expected to mark a shift toward more responsible and collaborative educational AI tools.
2025 (August 7)	Product launch	OpenAI introduces GPT-5, which claims to deliver professional-level performance in programming, writing, mathematics, health, and visual perception. It features a unified architecture combining a fast model, a deep reasoning mode ("GPT-5 Thinking"), and a real-time router that selects the best approach per task. The system reduces hallucinations, improves instruction-following, and enhances creativity and precision. Pro users access GPT-5 Pro with extended reasoning. In programming, GPT-5 shows major advances in front-end generation, debugging, and aesthetically refined design for websites, apps, and games. The launch is met with significant user backlash: OpenAI simultaneously removes the popular GPT-4o model, drawing widespread complaints about GPT-5's perceived coldness and reduced personality, while usage caps of 200 messages per week anger paying subscribers; OpenAI's head of ChatGPT publicly acknowledges the company had "miscalculated," subsequently restores access to GPT-4o, and promises not to retire models without warning in future.
2025 (September 25)	Feature update	ChatGPT Pulse is introduced as a new feature for Pro users that makes ChatGPT proactive. Instead of waiting for questions, it researches topics daily and provides personalized updates as visual cards based on chat history, feedback, and connected apps like Gmail or Google Calendar. Users can control what Pulse tracks, give feedback, and toggle integrations anytime. Designed to be helpful—not addictive—it offers focused, relevant insights each day. Pulse marks the first step toward a ChatGPT that anticipates user needs, helping plan, act, and stay informed automatically. Privacy concerns dominate early public discussion of the feature, with observers noting that granting an AI system overnight access to personal email and calendar data represents a significant expansion of data collection; the feature launches exclusively for Pro subscribers at $200 per month, a price point that limits broad testing and the kind of viral adoption that characterized earlier ChatGPT features.
2025 (September 29)	Feature update	OpenAI introduces "Instant Checkout," allowing ChatGPT users to buy products directly within chats. The feature lets shoppers purchase items—such as Etsy products or soon over a million Shopify goods—without leaving the app. Co-developed with Stripe, it currently supports single-item purchases and charges merchants a small transaction fee. OpenAI calls this a step into "agentic commerce," where ChatGPT acts as a shopping assistant and agent. Shopify sees it as transforming product discovery through AI conversations. At the time, Amazon develops similar AI shopping tools. OpenAI also adds new parental controls for teen users.
2025 (November 12)	Feature update	OpenAI introduces GPT-5.1, an update to GPT-5 that emphasizes warmer communication and improved instruction-following. This Instant model delivers more natural, conversational responses with selectable personality styles, while better adhering to precise prompts. The Thinking model gains tuning that speeds up simple tasks and deepens reasoning for complex ones, also adopting a warmer tone. Auto-routing continues to choose the optimal model automatically. GPT-5.1 begins rolling out to paid Pro, Plus, Go, and Business users, with free users to follow. GPT-5 remains available for at least three months after previous backlash. Apple's Siri integration already uses GPT-5.
2025 (December 10)	Integration	Adobe launches Photoshop, Adobe Express, and Adobe Acrobat as native apps inside ChatGPT, making them available to the platform's 800 million weekly users. Users can invoke each app by typing its name followed by an instruction in natural language, without leaving the ChatGPT interface. Photoshop enables image edits such as background blurring and exposure adjustment; Adobe Express allows users to browse, customize, and animate design templates; and Acrobat supports PDF editing, compression, conversion, and redaction. The apps are free for ChatGPT users and available on desktop, web, and iOS at launch, with Android support to follow. The integration extends Adobe's reach to new audiences who may be unfamiliar with its standalone tools, while allowing users to move seamlessly into Adobe's full native apps from within the chat.
2026 (January 16)	Product launch	OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Go, a $8/month subscription plan launched globally across all countries where ChatGPT is available, offering broader access to messages, image creation, file uploads, and memory. Simultaneously, OpenAI announces plans to begin testing advertisements in the United States for Free and Go plan users, marking its first foray into advertising. OpenAI commits that ads will never influence ChatGPT's responses, that user conversation data will not be sold to advertisers, and that paid Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans will remain ad-free. Ads are to appear clearly labeled at the end of responses when a relevant sponsored product or service exists, with users able to opt out of personalization.
2026 (February 9)	Integration	OpenAI approves the first insurer-built AI app on ChatGPT, developed by Spanish digital insurer Tuio and powered by WaniWani's AI distribution infrastructure. The app allows users to receive a personalized home insurance quote through natural conversation, without leaving the ChatGPT interface or going through traditional intermediaries. The same underlying infrastructure has also been adopted by Anthropic's Claude. Tuio frames the launch as the beginning of a broader shift in AI-driven insurance distribution, with co-founder Juan García describing it as "day zero of that transformation."
2026 (March 2)	Criticism	An online boycott campaign called QuitGPT surges after OpenAI reaches an agreement with the US Department of Defense to deploy its models within classified military networks, hours after rival Anthropic declines to accept a similar Pentagon request without ethical guardrails. The campaign claims over 1.5 million people have taken action — cancelling subscriptions, sharing boycott messages, or signing up at its website — and organizes an in-person protest at OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters. The campaign accuses OpenAI of agreeing to allow the Pentagon to use its technology for "any lawful purpose," including autonomous weapons systems and mass surveillance, and recommends users switch to alternative platforms.
2026 (March 24)	Feature update	OpenAI expands ChatGPT's shopping capabilities through an updated Agentic Commerce Protocol, introducing richer and more visually immersive product discovery experiences. Users can now browse products visually, compare options side by side with prices and reviews, and upload images to find similar items, all without leaving ChatGPT. Major retailers including Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, Lowe's, Best Buy, The Home Depot, and Wayfair integrate their product catalogs through the protocol. Shopify merchants are automatically included through Shopify Catalog. OpenAI also discontinues its earlier Instant Checkout feature in favor of allowing merchants to use their own checkout processes, while Walmart introduces a dedicated ChatGPT app experience linking users to its loyalty programs and payment systems.
2026 (April 21)	Product launch	OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Images 2.0, a major upgrade to its image generation capabilities. The new version offers greater precision, stronger multilingual text rendering across scripts including Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Devanagari, and Cyrillic, improved stylistic sophistication across photography, illustration, manga, and pixel art, and enhanced understanding of real-world context. The model can generate production-ready assets such as editorial layouts, manga pages, infographics, and branded materials. It is available to users in ChatGPT alongside a new Image Mode interface.
2026 (April 22)	Product launch	OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Clinicians, a free version of ChatGPT designed specifically for verified physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists in the United States. The product includes access to frontier models for clinical questions, reusable skills for repeatable workflows such as referral letters and prior authorizations, real-time cited search across peer-reviewed medical sources, deep research across medical journals, and optional HIPAA compliance support. According to a 2026 American Medical Association survey, physician use of AI has reached an all-time high, with 72% of physicians reporting use in clinical practice. OpenAI simultaneously releases HealthBench Professional, an open benchmark for evaluating AI on real clinician tasks, finding that ChatGPT for Clinicians outperforms other models and human physicians on the benchmark.
2026 (April 23)	Product launch	OpenAI releases GPT-5.5, described as its most capable and efficient model to date, rolling out to Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users in ChatGPT and Codex. The model achieves state-of-the-art scores on agentic coding benchmarks including Terminal-Bench 2.0 (82.7%) and Expert-SWE (73.1%), and on computer-use benchmark OSWorld-Verified (78.7%), while matching GPT-5.4's per-token latency and using fewer tokens to complete equivalent tasks. GPT-5.5 also demonstrates improved performance in knowledge work, scientific research, and long-context tasks, including contributions to a new proof about Ramsey numbers in combinatorics. A GPT-5.5 Pro variant for higher-accuracy work is simultaneously rolled out to Pro, Business, and Enterprise users. OpenAI notes the model's cybersecurity capabilities are rated High under its Preparedness Framework and deploys stricter classifiers accordingly, while also launching a Trusted Access for Cyber program for verified security researchers.

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Wikipedia views

The chart below shows pageviews of the English Wikipedia article ChatGPT, from November 2022 to November 2025.

Google Trends

The chart below shows Google Trends data for ChatGPT, from November 2022 to December 2025, when the screenshot was taken. Interest is also ranked by country and displayed on world map.

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See also

• Timeline of OpenAI
• Timeline of Bing Chat
• Timeline of Google Gemini
• Timeline of DeepSeek
• Timeline of Mistral AI
• Timeline of Grok
• Timeline of Claude
• Timeline of large language models
• Timeline of artificial intelligence