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Epoch AI data shows ChatGPT users are chatting more often, and at greater length
A sample of 5,000 US users suggests ChatGPT habits deepened from 2022 to 2025, while paid subscriptions remain a small slice of the market
According to Epoch AI, usage among a sample of 5,000 US users grew in both frequency and message length between 2022 and 2025.
What the numbers show
The core finding from Epoch AI is about depth of engagement, not just raw sign-ups. Across the 2022 to 2025 window, the sampled users increased how often they used ChatGPT and how much they typed per message.
Epoch AI’s separate December 2025 survey adds a wider lens. The research group polled 5,660 Americans, and 35% said they had used ChatGPT in the previous week.
Competitors showed up too, though further back. Some 24% of respondents reported using Google’s Gemini, while 13% said they used Meta AI.
Fewer than 10% of users reported paying for an AI subscription, with OpenAI accounting for approximately 4.6% on the paid side.
How it lines up with OpenAI’s own data
Epoch AI’s findings track with what OpenAI has reported about its own platform. Through its Signals platform and an NBER working paper, the company has analyzed millions of consumer messages to understand how people actually use the product.
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One standout figure from that work: users sent 50% more messages on average six months after signing up for ChatGPT.
ChatGPT’s weekly active users rose from about 500 million in March 2025 to estimates of 700 million to 800 million by late 2025.
Who Epoch AI is, and why its data gets attention
Epoch AI is a research organization that tracks trends in artificial intelligence. It aggregates user data from multiple sources to visualize usage metrics across AI companies.
Its AI Companies dataset covers trends in user engagement and message frequency, with data updated through 2025 and 2026. The focus is on metrics like active users and message volume.
What this means for the AI market
The most interesting tension in this data is between engagement and monetization. Usage is deepening, yet fewer than 10% of users are paying.
A 35% weekly usage rate in the survey puts ChatGPT well ahead of Gemini at 24% and Meta AI at 13%.
There are limits worth keeping in mind. Survey responses rely on self-reporting, and samples of a few thousand people capture a snapshot rather than a full census. The weekly active user figures for late 2025 are estimates. Readers should treat the direction of the trend as more reliable than any single decimal point.