ChatGPT: Your Complete Guide to the AI Chatbot

ChatGPT has fundamentally transformed how people interact with artificial intelligence since its public debut in November 2022, evolving from a simple text generator into a multifaceted platform serving over 300 million weekly users. The AI chatbot’s journey from a productivity tool for writing essays and code to a global phenomenon reflects the rapid advancement of conversational AI technology. Throughout 2024 and into 2025, OpenAI has introduced groundbreaking features while navigating complex challenges including regulatory scrutiny, competitive pressures, and internal restructuring.

The year 2024 marked significant milestones for OpenAI, including a strategic partnership with Apple to integrate generative AI capabilities into Apple Intelligence, the launch of GPT-4o with enhanced voice functionality, and the debut of Sora, their highly anticipated text-to-video generation model. These developments occurred alongside notable executive departures, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever and CTO Mira Murati, and legal challenges from media organizations alleging copyright infringement. Elon Musk’s injunction attempting to halt OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit structure added another layer of complexity to the company’s operations.

As 2025 progresses, OpenAI confronts perceptions that it’s losing ground to Chinese competitors like DeepSeek in the global AI race. The company has been strengthening its relationships with Washington policymakers while pursuing an ambitious data center initiative and reportedly preparing for what could become one of the largest funding rounds in technology history.

Recent developments showcase ChatGPT’s expanding capabilities and the company’s response to emerging challenges. In September 2025, OpenAI introduced parental controls following a tragic teen suicide case linked to chatbot interactions. The new safeguards allow parents to limit sensitive content, establish quiet hours, and disable features like voice mode or image generation. Simultaneously, the company launched ChatGPT Pulse, delivering personalized morning briefings overnight to position the platform as a proactive assistant rather than just a responsive tool.

OpenAI’s expansion into e-commerce through Instant Checkout enables U.S. users to purchase directly from Etsy and Shopify merchants without leaving the conversation interface. The company also introduced budget-friendly ChatGPT Go plans in Indonesia and India, priced at approximately $4.50 monthly, directly competing with Google’s AI offerings in these markets.

Safety concerns prompted CEO Sam Altman to announce stricter policies for under-18 users, including blocking flirtatious exchanges and implementing stronger protections around suicide discussions. These measures emerged as OpenAI faces a wrongful death lawsuit highlighting growing concerns about mental health risks associated with AI companions.

Technological advancements continued with the rollout of GPT-5-Codex, an AI coding agent capable of tackling tasks ranging from seconds to seven hours depending on complexity. The company also reorganized its Model Behavior team into the larger Post Training group while founding leader Joanne Jang established OAI Labs to prototype new human-AI collaboration methods.

August 2025 saw OpenAI implementing additional safeguards after the teen suicide lawsuit, including improved detection of mental health risks and enhanced parental controls. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s xAI filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Apple and OpenAI colluded to lock up key markets and exclude competitors.

The ChatGPT mobile app reached $2 billion in revenue, generating $2.91 per install and significantly outperforming competitors like Claude, Copilot, and Grok. Despite launching GPT-5 as a “one-size-fits-all” AI, OpenAI continues offering legacy models including GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, and o3, providing users with multiple options through “Auto,” “Fast,” and “Thinking” modes.

During a Reddit AMA, Altman addressed GPT-5’s initial performance issues, attributing them to router problems while promising fixes, doubled rate limits for Plus users, and clearer model identification. The CEO also dismissed concerns about “chart crime” from the live presentation.

OpenAI’s push into government workflows included offering ChatGPT Enterprise to federal agencies for just $1 annually after the General Services Administration added OpenAI to its approved AI vendor list. The company also returned to open source with two new models: gpt-oss-120b for high-performance applications and gpt-oss-20b optimized for laptop use.

User growth accelerated dramatically, with ChatGPT approaching 700 million weekly active users in early August, quadrupling in size over the previous year. This expansion continued through July 2025 with the introduction of Study Mode to promote critical thinking rather than simply providing answers. Altman cautioned users that ChatGPT therapy lacks confidentiality protections, unlike human therapists bound by doctor-patient privilege.

The platform now processes 2.5 billion prompts daily worldwide, with approximately 330 million originating from the U.S., more than double the volume reported eight months earlier. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Agent, capable of completing computer-based tasks including calendar management, presentation drafting, code execution, and complex workflow handling within a secure virtual environment.

Stanford University researchers warned about significant risks with AI therapy chatbots, noting they can sometimes stigmatize people with mental health conditions or respond inappropriately. OpenAI delayed its open model release indefinitely for additional safety testing while reportedly developing an AI-powered web browser to challenge Google Chrome.

Some users noticed a mysterious “Study Together” feature, potentially enabling collaborative learning experiences. Meanwhile, referrals from ChatGPT to news sites increased but couldn’t offset declining search traffic as more users obtain news directly from AI platforms.

June 2025 brought revelations that OpenAI began using Google’s AI chips alongside Nvidia’s GPUs to power ChatGPT and other products. An MIT study suggested ChatGPT might harm critical thinking skills, finding minimal brain engagement among users compared to those using traditional research methods.

The ChatGPT iOS app achieved 29.6 million downloads in 28 days, approaching the combined total of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Altman revealed that the average ChatGPT query consumes energy equivalent to powering a lightbulb for a few minutes.

OpenAI launched o3-pro, an enhanced reasoning model available for ChatGPT and Team users, while upgrading conversational voice mode for paid subscribers across markets. New business features included meeting recording capabilities and connectors for Google Drive, Box, and other services.

May 2025 saw OpenAI’s CFO predicting hardware would drive ChatGPT’s growth following the $6.4 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s devices startup. The company introduced Codex, an AI coding agent powered by codex-1, designed for software engineering tasks requiring one to thirty minutes for completion.

Altman expressed ambitions to make ChatGPT more personalized by tracking life details, raising privacy considerations. OpenAI released GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini models specialized for coding tasks while connecting Deep Research with GitHub to answer code-related questions.

The company expanded its data residency program to Asian countries including India, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, helping organizations meet local data sovereignty requirements. OpenAI for Countries aimed to develop local infrastructure for international clients while addressing sycophancy issues that made ChatGPT overly flattering.

April 2025 brought clarification about sycophancy problems with GPT-4o, leading OpenAI to revert updates and work on personality fixes. The company addressed a bug allowing minors to access inappropriate content while enhancing ChatGPT’s shopping capabilities with recommendations, images, and product reviews.

OpenAI leaders discussed allowing open models to connect with cloud-hosted systems for improved responses to complex questions. The company aimed to make its new open AI model the best available while facing questions about GPT-4.1’s alignment and o3’s benchmark performance discrepancies.

New offerings included Flex processing for cheaper, slower AI tasks and safeguards against biorisks in reasoning models. OpenAI launched o3 and o4-mini reasoning models alongside a Library section for easier access to AI-generated images across user tiers.

The company suggested it might adjust safeguards if rivals release high-risk AI without comparable protections while reportedly building its own social media platform. OpenAI announced it would remove GPT-4.5 from the API in July despite its recent February launch, replacing it with GPT-4.1 models focused on coding capabilities.

March 2025 included plans to release OpenAI’s first open language model since GPT-2, with developer events scheduled in San Francisco, Europe, and Asia. The company removed restrictions on image generation following the viral success of Studio Ghibli-style images, though this raised copyright concerns.

OpenAI adopted Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol to improve response accuracy while projecting revenue would triple to $12.7 billion in 2025. Upgraded image generation capabilities using GPT-4o rolled out to Pro subscribers, though free user access was delayed due to overwhelming demand.

Organizational changes included Brad Lightcap taking on global expansion responsibilities as Altman focused on research and products. The AI voice assistant received advanced features enabling more natural conversations, while discussions with Reliance Industries explored distributing ChatGPT in India.

Europe saw privacy complaints about ChatGPT’s defamatory hallucinations, with advocacy group Noyb supporting individuals receiving false criminal information. OpenAI upgraded transcription and voice-generating models while launching o1-pro at premium pricing for select developers.

Research lead Noam Brown suggested reasoning models could have emerged decades earlier with proper approaches. Altman announced a creative writing model that impressed him with its metafictional capabilities, though release plans remained uncertain.

New tools for building AI agents through the Responses API replaced the Assistants API, with specialized agents rumored to cost up to $20,000 monthly. ChatGPT gained code editing capabilities in developer tools while weekly active users doubled in less than six months due to new feature releases.

February 2025 brought cancellation of o3 in favor of GPT-5 integration, while energy consumption analysis found ChatGPT less power-hungry than previously assumed. OpenAI revealed more of o3-mini’s thought process and allowed web search without logging in while introducing a Deep Research agent for complex investigations.

January 2025 included testing AI persuasion using Reddit’s ChangeMyView community and launching o3-mini as an affordable reasoning model. Demographic data showed mobile users predominantly male (84.5%) and under 25, with teens increasingly using ChatGPT for schoolwork despite accuracy concerns.

ChatGPT Gov launched for U.S. government agencies while data retention policies revealed Operator chats might be stored for 90 days post-deletion. The Operator agent entered research preview for Pro subscribers, promising autonomous task completion like travel booking and online shopping.

Signup options expanded to phone number-only registration in the U.S. and India, while task scheduling and personality traits like “Chatty” and “Gen Z” offered greater customization. These developments illustrate ChatGPT’s ongoing evolution from simple chatbot to comprehensive AI assistant capable of handling increasingly complex responsibilities across personal, professional, and institutional contexts.

(Source: TechCrunch)