Usage among a sample of 5,000 US ChatGPT users grew in both frequency and message length between 2022 and 2025, according to data from AI research organization Epoch AI.

What the numbers show

The core finding concerns depth of engagement rather than raw sign-ups. Across the 2022 to 2025 window, the sampled users increased how often they used ChatGPT and how much they typed per message, indicating that interactions with the chatbot have become both more frequent and more substantive. Frequency and message length are exactly the kind of engagement metrics analysts use to tell a product that has become part of a routine apart from one still treated as a novelty, because both are harder to move than headline user counts.

Epoch AI's separate December 2025 survey offers a broader lens. The research group polled 5,660 Americans, and 35% said they had used ChatGPT in the previous week. Weekly usage is a stickier benchmark than cumulative reach, since it filters out people who tried the product once and never came back.

Competitors appeared in the results as well, though further back. Some 24% of respondents reported using Google's Gemini, while 13% said they used Meta AI.

Monetization continues to lag engagement. Fewer than 10% of users reported paying for an AI subscription, with OpenAI accounting for approximately 4.6% on the paid side. The distance between how much people use these tools and how many pay for them is one of the most closely watched dynamics in consumer AI, since engagement does not translate into subscription revenue on its own.

How the findings line up with OpenAI's own data

Epoch AI's results track with what OpenAI has reported about its own platform. Through its Signals platform and a working paper with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the company has analyzed millions of consumer messages to understand how people actually use the product.

One standout figure from that work: users sent 50% more messages on average six months after signing up for ChatGPT, a curve consistent with usage ramping up as new users settle in rather than fading after the initial sign-up.

ChatGPT's weekly active users rose from about 500 million in March 2025 to estimates of 700 million to 800 million by late 2025.

Who Epoch AI is, and why its data gets attention

Epoch AI is a research organization that tracks trends in artificial intelligence. It aggregates user data from multiple sources to visualize usage metrics across AI companies.

Its AI Companies dataset covers trends in user engagement and message frequency, with data updated through 2025 and 2026. The focus is on metrics such as active users and message volume. That rolling publication cycle is what makes the dataset a useful reference point for checking whether engagement gains hold over time across competing AI products.

What this means for the AI market

The most notable tension in the data lies between engagement and monetization. Usage is deepening, yet fewer than 10% of users are paying. The survey's 35% weekly usage rate puts ChatGPT well ahead of Gemini at 24% and Meta AI at 13%, a spread that underlines the leader's edge in habitual use over its closest rivals.

There are limits worth keeping in mind. Survey responses rely on self-reporting, and samples of a few thousand people capture a snapshot rather than a full census. The weekly active user figures for late 2025 are estimates. Readers should treat the direction of the trend as more reliable than any single decimal point.

With the underlying dataset updated through 2026, the figures worth watching in future releases are whether the paying share moves closer to the active share, and whether the current gap between ChatGPT, Gemini, and Meta AI holds or shifts.

Source: CryptoBriefing