OpenAI revives ChatGPT growth and teases new flagship chat model

The combination of a renewed growth curve for ChatGPT and an imminent new chat model underlines that OpenAI is still the pacing force in this cycle of the AGI race. A December “code red” effectively meant suspending some ambitious bets to double down on user value and reliability in the core assistant; the early data suggests that focus worked. If OpenAI can pair a stronger product with the enormous capital raise Business Insider reports it is pursuing, it will have both the demand and the balance sheet to keep pushing for larger, more capable models.

Strategically, the memo also frames a sharper competitive line with Anthropic. Codex’s 50% growth and the “insane” response to GPT‑5.3‑Codex reinforce that coding remains a crown‑jewel use case, even as Claude Code gains ground. At the same time, OpenAI is experimenting with ads in ChatGPT while Anthropic runs campaigns promising an ad‑free assistant, turning business model choices into a brand wedge. For others in the field, this is a reminder that product velocity, monetization experiments and brute‑force capex are converging, and the labs that can execute on all three will set the pace for everyone else.