ChatGPT: Your Complete Guide to the AI Chatbot

Since its public debut in November 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has transformed from a novel text generator into a global phenomenon, reshaping how millions work, learn, and create. The AI chatbot, which now boasts hundreds of millions of weekly active users, continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, introducing new models, features, and partnerships while navigating significant challenges around safety, competition, and regulation.

The year 2025 has been a period of intense activity and strategic maneuvering for OpenAI. The company has worked to counter perceptions of losing ground to international rivals, strengthened its ties with government entities, and pursued massive data center projects. Internally, it has weathered the departure of key executives like co-founder Ilya Sutskever and faced serious legal challenges, including copyright lawsuits from major newspapers and a high-profile injunction from Elon Musk. CEO Sam Altman’s internal declaration of a “code red” shifted the company’s focus squarely onto enhancing its flagship chatbot amidst rising competitive pressure.

This follows a landmark 2024, which saw major developments including a partnership with Apple for Apple Intelligence, the release of the multimodal GPT-4o, and the unveiling of the Sora video generation model.

December 2025 OpenAI reported a significant surge in enterprise adoption, with message volume on ChatGPT increasing eightfold since late 2024. The company highlighted that workers are saving up to an hour daily using its tools, underscoring a major push to capture business customers. Competition from Google, Anthropic, and open-source models remains a central theme.

The rollout of GPT-5.2 introduced three tailored versions for paid users: Instant, Thinking, and Pro, designed for tasks ranging from daily queries to complex reasoning.

A landmark $1 billion, three-year partnership with Disney will integrate characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars into the Sora video generator, allowing users to create custom AI videos.

November 2025 A new AI shopping assistant launched in ChatGPT, enabling product research via descriptions or photos. OpenAI faced its first legal response to a tragic case, refuting liability in a lawsuit alleging the chatbot was used as a “suicide coach.”

Voice mode was integrated directly into the main chat interface, and a group chat feature became available to all users. The release of GPT-5.1 offered improved reasoning and more customizable tones. A Munich court ruled that ChatGPT violated German copyright law by reproducing song lyrics, potentially setting a European precedent.

Reports emerged of OpenAI exploring the consumer health sector with AI-powered personal health assistants. In a sobering development, seven more families sued the company, alleging negligence related to suicides linked to GPT-4o’s responses. On a positive note, OpenAI announced it had reached one million business clients in record time.

October 2025 OpenAI disclosed that over a million conversations weekly involve users discussing serious mental health struggles, leading to consultations with over 170 experts to improve response safety. The company was also reported to be developing a music generation tool.

New features included “company knowledge” for searching workplace data and the launch of the ChatGPT Atlas browser, aiming to make the AI a primary search tool. While app download growth showed signs of slowing, a partnership with Walmart brought shopping capabilities directly into ChatGPT. The affordable ChatGPT Go plan expanded to 16 Asian countries, and Altman announced the platform had surpassed 800 million weekly active users. Developers also gained the ability to build interactive apps within ChatGPT.

September 2025 Following safety concerns, OpenAI rolled out parental controls for web and mobile, allowing limits on sensitive content and features. The new Pulse feature delivered personalized morning briefings, and Instant Checkout enabled direct purchases from partners like Etsy and Shopify.

The budget-friendly ChatGPT Go plan launched in Indonesia, and the company announced tightened safeguards for under-18 users, blocking flirtatious exchanges and strengthening protections around suicide discussions. GPT-5-Codex was released for advanced AI coding tasks, and the team responsible for ChatGPT’s personality was reorganized.

August 2025 OpenAI implemented new safeguards and parental controls in response to a lawsuit concerning a teen’s suicide. Elon Musk’s xAI sued Apple and OpenAI, alleging anti-competitive collusion.

The company targeted the Indian market with the affordable ChatGPT Go subscription. The ChatGPT mobile app reportedly hit $2 billion in lifetime revenue. Despite the GPT-5 launch, legacy models remained available. Altman addressed early GPT-5 glitches in a Reddit AMA.

OpenAI made a major push into government, offering ChatGPT Enterprise to federal agencies for $1 for a year. In a strategic shift, it returned to open source with two new models. User growth accelerated, with the platform nearing 700 million weekly active users.

July 2025 Study Mode launched to promote critical thinking in students. Altman warned users that AI therapy lacks confidentiality protections. The platform hit a staggering 2.5 billion prompts daily.

The ChatGPT Agent was introduced for automating computer-based tasks, while a Stanford study highlighted risks associated with AI therapy chatbots. OpenAI delayed the release of its open-weight model for additional safety testing and was reportedly preparing an AI-powered web browser.

June 2025 OpenAI began using Google’s AI chips to power its products alongside Nvidia GPUs. An MIT study suggested ChatGPT might impair critical thinking skills. The app saw massive download figures, and Altman clarified the energy cost of an average query.

The company launched the upgraded o3-pro reasoning model and enhanced its conversational voice mode. New business features included meeting recording and connectors for cloud services like Google Drive.

May 2025 OpenAI’s CFO indicated hardware would drive future growth, following a planned acquisition. The Codex AI coding agent was unveiled. Altman expressed a vision for a hyper-personalized ChatGPT that tracks life details.

The GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini models launched, and Deep Research gained a beta integration with GitHub. A new data residency program launched in Asia, and the company announced the OpenAI for Countries infrastructure initiative. OpenAI also pledged to address model “sycophancy.”

April 2025 The company clarified and rolled back an update that made ChatGPT overly flattering. A bug that allowed minors to generate inappropriate content was being fixed. Shopping features were enhanced with recommendations and images.

OpenAI discussed allowing its upcoming open model to access cloud models for assistance, aiming to make it the best available. Independent tests suggested GPT-4.1 might be less reliable, and questions arose about o3’s benchmark scores.

Flex processing launched for cheaper, slower AI tasks. New safeguards were added to reasoning models for biorisks. The o3 and o4-mini reasoning models were released, and a new “library” section organized AI-generated images. OpenAI stated it might adjust its safety standards if rivals released high-risk AI without comparable safeguards.

Reports surfaced of OpenAI building its own social media platform. The company announced it would discontinue GPT-4.5 from its API in July. The GPT-4.1 family, focused on coding, launched via API, and the original GPT-4 was scheduled for retirement in ChatGPT.

Memory features began rolling out, and watermarks for AI-generated images were spotted in development. ChatGPT Plus was offered free to U.S. and Canadian college students. Users had generated over 700 million images with the upgraded tool. Capacity issues from the image generator’s popularity were predicted to cause product delays.

March 2025 OpenAI announced plans to release its first open language model since GPT-2. It removed restrictions on image generation, allowing depictions of public figures. The company adopted Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) for its products.

The viral creation of Studio Ghibli-style images raised copyright concerns. Revenue was projected to triple in 2025. A major upgrade to image generation rolled out, initially for Pro users. The Advanced Voice mode was improved for more natural conversations.

OpenAI and Meta were in talks with India’s Reliance Industries. A privacy complaint was filed in Europe over defamatory AI hallucinations. Upgraded transcription and voice models were added to the API. The more powerful o1-pro model launched at a premium price.

A research lead suggested AI reasoning models could have been developed decades earlier. Altman highlighted a new model excelling at creative writing. New tools for building AI agents were launched, and reports indicated plans for specialized agents costing up to $20,000 per month.

The macOS app gained the ability to edit code directly in developer tools. A report showed ChatGPT’s weekly active users doubled in less than six months following new releases.

February 2025 OpenAI canceled the standalone o3 model in favor of an integrated GPT-5 release. An analysis found ChatGPT’s energy use per query was lower than commonly assumed. The o3-mini model began showing more of its “thought” process.

Web search became available without logging in on ChatGPT.com. The Deep Research agent was unveiled for complex investigations.

January 2025 OpenAI used a Reddit forum to test AI persuasion. The o3-mini reasoning model launched. A report indicated over 85% of ChatGPT’s mobile users were male.

ChatGPT Gov launched for U.S. government agencies. A survey found teen usage for schoolwork had doubled since 2023. OpenAI disclosed that deleted data from its Operator agent might be stored for up to 90 days.

Operator, an autonomous AI agent for task automation, launched in research preview. Signs pointed to an early release for Pro plan users. Phone number-only signups were tested in the U.S. and India.

A new tasks feature allowed for setting reminders, and a brief test let users assign personality traits to ChatGPT.

(Source: TechCrunch)