OpenAI said Monday that ChatGPT is on track to surpass 700 million weekly active users this week, up from 500 million at the end of March and representing more than a four-fold increase from a year earlier. The figure covers all versions of the conversational AI service, including free, Plus, Pro, Enterprise, Team and Edu tiers. The company added that daily user messages now top 3 billion and that paying business customers have climbed to 5 million, up from 3 million in June. Third-party analytics firm Sensor Tower estimates users spend about 16 minutes a day on the product, ranking it among the most-used consumer apps worldwide. The usage milestone comes days after OpenAI secured $8.3 billion from investors such as Dragoneer Investment Group, Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital as part of a SoftBank-led $40 billion fundraising round. OpenAI said annual recurring revenue has reached $13 billion, up from $10 billion in June, and it expects to exceed $20 billion by year-end. The fresh capital and accelerating adoption underline intensifying competition in generative AI, with rival Anthropic reportedly seeking up to $5 billion at a $170 billion valuation.