# Sam Altman Touts ChatGPT’s Reaccelerating Growth to Employees as OpenAI Closes in on $100 Billion Funding
OpenAI CEO **Sam Altman** recently rallied employees with news that **ChatGPT’s monthly growth** has surged back above **10%**, a critical boost as the company eyes a landmark funding round valuing it at nearly **$100 billion**.[2][7][8] This internal update, shared via Slack last Friday, counters concerns over slowing momentum amid fierce AI competition from Google, Meta, and Anthropic.[7][9]
## Revival of ChatGPT’s Explosive Trajectory
ChatGPT’s growth reacceleration marks a pivotal turnaround. Altman highlighted that the chatbot now boasts roughly **800 million weekly active users**, reclaiming double-digit monthly gains after a period of maturation challenges.[8][9] For context, ChatGPT achieved 100 million users in just two months after its 2022 launch—the fastest for any consumer app—but sustaining such scale is rare, even for giants like Instagram or YouTube.[7]
Adding fuel to the fire, OpenAI’s **Codex**, a coding-focused product, exploded by **50% in one week**, which Altman described as “insane.”[2][8][9] This dedicated tool competes head-on with Anthropic’s Claude Code, signaling strength in specialized AI applications.[9] Altman also teased an **updated Chat model** launching later this week, potentially a chat variant of GPT 5.3, which promises 25% faster performance and superior agent coding benchmarks.[2][9]
These metrics arrive strategically, just before **Super Bowl LX**, where AI ads from Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Amazon-backed Anthropic clashed publicly.[8] OpenAI spotlighted Codex in its spot, emphasizing developer tools over consumer chit-chat.[8]
## The $100 Billion Valuation Milestone
The growth news dovetails with OpenAI’s pursuit of a **$100 billion funding round**, positioning it as the world’s most valuable private AI company.[7] This valuation dwarfs rivals like Anthropic, which raised at $18 billion last year, and underscores OpenAI’s dominance despite intensifying rivalry.[7]
Investors see validation in the numbers: reaccelerating user growth at this scale defies typical app lifecycles.[7] As OpenAI “intensifies the race with Google,” per analysts, ChatGPT’s rebound bolsters its lead in consumer AI while enterprise deals loom large.[6] Higher-tier paid plans remain ad-free, preserving premium appeal as free users encounter tailored ads at response bottoms—related to queries, not intrusive interruptions.[2]
## Ads Spark Controversy and Competitor Jabs
Timing coincides with ChatGPT’s ad rollout, starting **today for free and “Go” plan users**—earlier than the “coming weeks” forecast.[2][4] Altman once deemed ads a “last resort,” but testing proceeds amid revenue pressures.[2] Ads appear contextually, avoiding the dystopian therapy-session disruptions depicted in critiques.[1][2]
Enter Anthropic’s **Super Bowl ad**, a “seminal moment” in the AI wars, per marketing professor Scott Galloway.[1] The spot mocks OpenAI’s ads with a tagline: “Ads are coming to AI, but not to Claude,” tapping into AI’s dominant, unspoken use case—**therapy**.[1] Galloway notes users confide “intimate questions” in AI, making ad interruptions a trust-breaker: imagine confessing depression only for a Lexapro pitch.[1]
Jess Ramos of Big Data Energy Analytics called it the year’s most thought-provoking ad, “obliterating ChatGPT” by highlighting validation-seeking chats and “insensitive ad placements.”[1] Australian journalist Mark Ritson hailed it as the AI category’s first effective brand strategy.[1]
Altman fired back on social media, labeling the ad “dishonest” and “deceptive.” He stressed OpenAI’s principles: “We won’t do exactly this; we would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them. We are not stupid.”[1] Galloway views Anthropic’s no-ads pledge as a masterstroke, akin to Apple’s 1984 ad, targeting enterprise where privacy reigns.[1] He predicts Anthropic surpassing OpenAI’s value in 12 months, echoing 1990s PC wars where consumer darling Gateway lost to enterprise-focused Dell.[1]
## Strategic Implications for OpenAI’s Future
Altman’s employee memo counters narratives of cooling growth, rallying amid Google’s Gemini push and Meta’s open-source Llama models.[7] Codex’s surge hints at expansion beyond coding, mirroring Anthropic’s Cowork app evolution.[9]
Yet challenges persist. Ads risk alienating therapy-like users who crave a “clean, well-lit place” free from commercial taint.[1] OpenAI must balance monetization with trust, especially as rivals exploit intimacy in human-AI bonds.
This moment crystallizes AI’s crossroads: productivity rhetoric masks emotional reliance. OpenAI’s growth revival and $100B ambitions affirm its frontrunner status, but Anthropic’s trust offensive signals a bruising battle ahead.[1][7]
As ChatGPT ships its new model this week, eyes turn to user reception and funding outcomes. For developers, Codex’s momentum offers immediate wins; for consumers, ad integration tests loyalty. OpenAI’s reacceleration isn’t just numbers—it’s a defiant roar in a crowded arena.
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Original source: CNBC Business – Sam Altman touts ChatGPT’s reaccelerating growth to employees as OpenAI closes in on $100 billion funding
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