In the past two months, ChatGPT has witnessed revenue growth of 31% in July and 39% in August, although the revenue growth rate decreased to 20% in September, according to data from market insights company Appfigures.
The AI-powered chatbot continues to see an increase in app installations, setting a new record in September with 15.6 million downloads.
Revenue reached approximately $4.6 million across both iOS and Android operating systems worldwide.
Appfigures stated, “Our estimates show that ChatGPT earned three million and two hundred thousand dollars in September from the Apple and Google app stores, with this figure reflecting OpenAI’s share after deductions by Apple and Google.”
The slowdown in revenue growth may be an early indicator that ChatGPT is approaching saturation in terms of mobile users willing to pay for the upgraded +ChatGPT subscription service.
The subscription costs $20 per month and offers fast response times, peak-hour access priority, and early access to new features and enhancements.
The service has gained popularity, generating total mobile revenue of $2.1 million in June, which increased to $2.7 million in July and then climbed to $3.8 million in August.
The official ChatGPT app from OpenAI has been available since May on the Apple store and since July on the Google store. The report suggests that OpenAI could easily increase this conversion rate and achieve much faster revenue growth through some minor adjustments.
Operating ChatGPT comes with a significantly high cost for the company, with each query costing around four cents. Running the AI chatbot requires approximately $48 billion for graphics processing units (GPUs) and around $16 billion for chips annually to keep it operational in case its query volume reaches one-tenth of Google’s search volume.
OpenAI stated last month that they expect their revenue to reach $1 billion in 2023.
Reportedly, OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, is raising funds for a valuation ranging between $80 billion and $90 billion by selling existing shares.
