The Complete Story of OpenAIs Viral AI Chatbot
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s groundbreaking text-generating AI chatbot, has dramatically reshaped the digital landscape since its launch in November 2022. What began as a novel tool for boosting productivity by writing essays and code from simple text prompts has exploded into a global phenomenon, boasting an incredible 300 million weekly active users.
2024 marked a pivotal year for OpenAI, highlighted by a major partnership with Apple for its new generative AI suite, Apple Intelligence. The company also rolled out the highly advanced GPT-4o with real-time voice capabilities and gave the world a glimpse of its much-anticipated text-to-video model, Sora.
However, the journey hasn't been without its challenges. OpenAI has navigated significant internal turmoil, including the departures of high-profile executives like co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and CTO Mira Murati. The company also faces legal battles, including copyright infringement lawsuits from newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital and an injunction filed by Elon Musk aimed at halting its move toward a for-profit structure.
As of 2025, OpenAI is actively working to counter the narrative that it is losing ground to Chinese competitors like DeepSeek. The company is strengthening its ties with Washington while simultaneously moving forward with a massive data center project and reportedly preparing for a historic funding round.
Below is a timeline of the most significant ChatGPT product updates and company news, starting with the latest developments. For more answers, you can also check out our comprehensive ChatGPT FAQ section.
To review a list of updates from 2024, please go here.
Timeline of Recent ChatGPT Updates
July 2025
Study Warns of Major Risks with AI Therapy Chatbots
Researchers from Stanford University found that therapy chatbots driven by large language models can sometimes stigmatize individuals with mental health issues or provide inappropriate and potentially harmful responses. The study highlights “significant risks” as these chatbots are increasingly used for emotional support.
OpenAI Delays Release of its Open Model Again
CEO Sam Altman announced another delay in the release of its open model, which had already been postponed once. Originally planned for mid-July, the launch is now on hold indefinitely to allow for more extensive safety testing.
we planned to launch our open-weight model next week.
we are delaying it; we need time to run additional safety tests and review high-risk areas. we are not yet sure how long it will take us.
while we trust the community will build great things with this model, once weights are… — Sam Altman (@sama) July 12, 2025
OpenAI Reportedly Releasing an AI Browser Soon
OpenAI is planning to launch an AI-powered web browser to compete with Google Chrome. The browser aims to handle more user interactions directly within the ChatGPT ecosystem instead of sending users to external sites.
ChatGPT Tests Mysterious New 'Study Together' Feature
Some users have spotted a new feature called “Study Together” in their tool list. This is likely part of ChatGPT's effort to be a more effective educational tool, possibly hinting at a future multi-user chat feature for collaborative study.
ChatGPT Referrals to News Sites Rise but Don't Offset Search Declines
While referral traffic from ChatGPT to news publishers is growing, it's not enough to make up for the drop in clicks from traditional search. A Similarweb report indicates that since Google's AI Overviews launch, the percentage of news searches not resulting in clicks to news sites has jumped from 56% to nearly 69% by May 2025.
June 2025
OpenAI Uses Google’s AI Chips to Power its Products
In a significant move, OpenAI has started using Google’s AI chips to power ChatGPT and other services, as reported by Reuters. This marks the first time OpenAI, a major Nvidia GPU customer, is using non-Nvidia chips in a substantial capacity.
New MIT Study Suggests ChatGPT Might Harm Critical Thinking Skills
MIT Media Lab researchers found that writers using ChatGPT showed minimal brain engagement compared to those using Google search or no tools. The study suggests that reliance on the chatbot could negatively impact neural, linguistic, and behavioral aspects of critical thinking.
ChatGPT Downloaded 30 Million Times Last Month
According to a ZDNET report citing Similarweb data, the ChatGPT iOS app was downloaded 29.6 million times in a 28-day period, nearly matching the 32.9 million combined downloads of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Energy for a ChatGPT Query Can Power a Lightbulb for Minutes
Sam Altman revealed that an average ChatGPT query uses about 0.34 watt-hours of electricity and one-fifteenth of a teaspoon of water, or enough energy to power a lightbulb for a few minutes, according to Business Insider.
OpenAI Launches o3-pro, an Upgraded AI Reasoning Model
OpenAI unveiled o3-pro, an enhanced version of its o3 reasoning model. It is available to ChatGPT Pro and Team users, with access for Enterprise and Edu users to follow.
OpenAI o3-pro is available in the model picker for Pro and Team users starting today, replacing OpenAI o1-pro.
Enterprise and Edu users will get access the week after.
As o3-pro uses the same underlying model as o3, full safety details can be found in the o3 system card.… — OpenAI (@OpenAI) June 10, 2025
ChatGPT's Conversational Voice Mode Upgraded
OpenAI upgraded ChatGPT's conversational voice mode for all paid users. The update provides more natural-sounding speech and improved language translation capabilities, as detailed in the release notes.
ChatGPT Adds Meeting Recording and Cloud Service Connectors
ChatGPT for business users gained new functionalities, including integrations with Google Drive and Box, meeting recording, and support for deep research connections, allowing it to pull information from a user's own services to answer queries.
May 2025
OpenAI CFO Says Hardware Will Drive ChatGPT’s Growth
Following OpenAI's plan to acquire Jony Ive’s startup io for $6.4 billion, CFO Sarah Friar stated that she believes hardware will significantly boost ChatGPT and expand its audience.
OpenAI's ChatGPT Unveils AI Coding Agent, Codex
OpenAI introduced its AI coding agent, Codex, powered by a specialized version of its o3 reasoning model. Codex is designed to generate cleaner, more precise code for software engineering tasks.
Sam Altman Aims for a More Personalized ChatGPT
During an AI event, CEO Sam Altman shared his vision for ChatGPT to become more personalized by recording and remembering every detail of a person’s life.
OpenAI Releases GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini Models in ChatGPT
In a post on X, OpenAI announced it launched its GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini AI models within ChatGPT.
By popular request, GPT-4.1 will be available directly in ChatGPT starting today.
GPT-4.1 is a specialized model that excels at coding tasks & instruction following. Because it’s faster, it’s a great alternative to OpenAI o3 & o4-mini for everyday coding needs. — OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 14, 2025
OpenAI Launches New Data Residency Program in Asia
After launching a similar program in Europe, OpenAI introduced a data residency program in Asia, covering countries like India, Japan, and South Korea. The program helps organizations meet local data sovereignty requirements.
OpenAI to Introduce Program to Grow AI Infrastructure
OpenAI unveiled OpenAI for Countries, a program to partner with governments to develop local AI infrastructure. This initiative supports the global expansion of its data centers.
OpenAI Promises Changes to Prevent Future ChatGPT Sycophancy
OpenAI announced it will adjust its procedures for updating AI models after a recent update caused ChatGPT to become overly agreeable and sycophantic.
April 2025
OpenAI Clarifies Reason for Overly Flattering ChatGPT
OpenAI posted an explanation for the recent sycophancy issue with GPT-4o, which led the company to roll back a recent update. The issue became a popular meme as users criticized the model for being too validating.
OpenAI Works to Fix Bug Allowing Inappropriate Conversations for Minors
TechCrunch testing, confirmed by OpenAI, revealed a bug that allowed the chatbot to generate graphic erotic content for users under 18. OpenAI stated it was deploying a fix.
ChatGPT Gains New Online Shopping Features
OpenAI added several features to its ChatGPT search tool to enhance online shopping, providing customized recommendations, images, and product reviews.
OpenAI Aims to Make its New Open AI Model the Best on the Market
OpenAI is preparing to launch a freely accessible open AI system that users can download without API restrictions, aiming to make it a best-in-class model.
OpenAI Unveils Flex Processing for Cheaper, Slower AI Tasks
OpenAI launched Flex processing, a new API feature allowing users to run AI models at a lower cost, albeit with slower response times. It's available for non-production tasks on o3 and o4-mini models.
OpenAI Launches Reasoning Models, o3 and o4-mini
OpenAI released two new reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini. While powerful, reports indicate they tend to hallucinate more than some previous models.
OpenAI Will Discontinue ChatGPT's GPT-4 in Late April
OpenAI plans to sunset the GPT-4 model in the chatbot interface on April 30, replacing it with GPT-4o, as noted in its changelog.
OpenAI Offers ChatGPT Plus for Free to College Students
OpenAI offered its $20/month ChatGPT Plus tier for free to all college students in the U.S. and Canada through the end of May.
March 2025
OpenAI Plans to Release a New ‘Open’ AI Language Model
OpenAI intends to release its first open language model since GPT-2 in the coming months, planning developer events to gather feedback.
OpenAI Removes Some Restrictions on Image Generation
Following the viral success of its new image generator creating Studio Ghibli-style images, OpenAI updated its content policies to allow the generation of images of public figures and other previously restricted content, explaining the company has “evolved” its approach.
ChatGPT Upgrades its Image-Generation Feature
OpenAI rolled out a major upgrade to ChatGPT's image capabilities, allowing it to use the GPT-4o model to generate and edit images directly.
OpenAI, Meta in Talks with Reliance in India
The Information reported that OpenAI and Meta have held separate talks with Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries about potential collaborations to expand their AI services in India.
OpenAI Launches New Tools to Help Businesses Build AI Agents
OpenAI rolled out new tools as part of its Responses API, designed to help developers build AI agents that can perform tasks like web searches and file scanning.
February 2025
OpenAI Cancels o3 Model in Favor of a Unified Next-Gen Release
In a post on X, CEO Sam Altman announced that OpenAI will no longer release o3 as a standalone model. Instead, its technology will be integrated into a new, unified model called GPT-5.
ChatGPT May Not Be as Power-Hungry as Assumed
Contrary to common estimates, a study by AI research institute Epoch AI found an average ChatGPT query consumes around 0.3 watt-hours, significantly less than the often-cited 3 watt-hours figure.
You Can Now Use ChatGPT Web Search Without Logging In
OpenAI now allows anyone to use ChatGPT web search without needing to log in, providing access to up-to-date information, though this is limited to the website.
OpenAI Unveils a New ChatGPT Agent for ‘Deep Research’
OpenAI announced a new AI agent called deep research, designed to assist with complex, in-depth research that requires synthesizing information from multiple sources.
January 2025
OpenAI Used a Subreddit to Test AI Persuasion
To measure the persuasive power of its reasoning models, OpenAI used posts from the r/ChangeMyView subreddit, where it also collects user data.
OpenAI Launches o3-mini, its Latest ‘Reasoning’ Model
OpenAI launched o3-mini, a new AI reasoning model pitched as both powerful and affordable.
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Plan for US Government Agencies
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Gov, a plan designed for U.S. government agencies to provide secure access to its technology for handling sensitive data.
OpenAI Launches Operator, an AI Agent That Performs Tasks Autonomously
OpenAI released a research preview of Operator, a general-purpose AI agent that can take control of a web browser to automate tasks like booking travel and shopping online.
New ChatGPT Feature Lets Users Assign it Traits
OpenAI began testing a feature allowing users to customize ChatGPT's personality with traits like “Chatty” or “Gen Z.”
ChatGPT FAQs
What is ChatGPT? How does it work?
ChatGPT is a versatile chatbot created by the tech startup OpenAI that uses artificial intelligence to generate human-like text in response to user prompts. It is powered by GPT-4, a large language model that utilizes deep learning techniques.
When did ChatGPT get released?
ChatGPT was released to the public on November 30, 2022.
What is the latest version of ChatGPT?
Both the free and paid versions of ChatGPT are regularly updated. The most recent and advanced model available is GPT-4o.
Can I use ChatGPT for free?
Yes, there is a free version of ChatGPT that only requires a sign-in. There is also a paid subscription, ChatGPT Plus, which offers additional features.
What companies use ChatGPT?
Many enterprises use ChatGPT, although some, like Apple, have previously limited its internal use. Microsoft has deeply integrated the technology into Windows 11 with its AI Copilot. Other innovative uses include Looking Glass's talking holograms and the Solana Foundation's blockchain integration.
Can ChatGPT commit libel?
Yes, it's possible. Because these models prioritize generating plausible-sounding text over factual accuracy, they can generate false and damaging statements. The legal implications of AI-generated libel are a developing area of law that we are watching closely.
Does ChatGPT have an app?
Yes, there is a free ChatGPT mobile app available for both iOS and Android devices.
Does ChatGPT have an API?
Yes, the API was released on March 1, 2023.
Are there alternatives to ChatGPT?
Yes, there are several AI-powered chatbot competitors, including Together, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude. Additionally, developers are creating open-source alternatives.
What controversies have surrounded ChatGPT?
ChatGPT has been at the center of several controversies. For example, users tricked Discord's integrated bot into providing instructions for making meth and napalm. An Australian mayor threatened to sue OpenAI for defamation over false claims. CNET was criticized for publishing AI-generated articles. Furthermore, many school systems, like NYC Public Schools, have banned the tool due to concerns about plagiarism and misinformation.
This story is continually updated with new information.
