ChatGPT hits $3 billion milestone as consumer spending surges in 2025

ChatGPT

ChatGPT has crossed $3 billion in global consumer spending on mobile, according to new estimates from app intelligence firm Appfigures. The figure covers total spending on iOS and Android since the app launched in May 2023, when it initially debuted as an iPhone-only experience.

What stands out is how heavily weighted that growth has been towards this year. Appfigures estimates that consumers spent around $2.48 billion on the ChatGPT mobile app in 2025 alone, a staggering 408 percent jump from the $487 million recorded in 2024. In its launch year, ChatGPT generated just $42.9 million, before exploding by more than 1,000 percent the following year.

Put into context, ChatGPT’s rise is unusually fast. It took the app just 31 months to reach $3 billion in consumer spending. TikTok, the biggest mobile revenue success story of the past decade, needed 58 months to hit the same mark. Streaming heavyweights also lagged behind, with Disney+ reaching $3 billion in 42 months and HBO Max taking 46 months.

Among AI rivals, xAI’s Grok is the closest comparator. Grok launched in late 2023 as part of X Premium Plus before expanding more broadly in 2024. When spending is aligned from the point each app began monetising, Grok’s trajectory comes closest to matching ChatGPT’s pace, even if it remains well behind in absolute terms.

The $3 billion figure underlines growing consumer comfort with paying for AI, but it only tells part of the story. Most of ChatGPT’s mobile revenue comes from subscriptions, including the $20-per-month ChatGPT Plus tier and the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro aimed at power users. Over time, however, OpenAI has multiple additional levers it can pull.

Developer-focused products already represent another revenue stream, and advertising is widely expected to follow. That possibility looks more concrete after OpenAI launched its own in-app app directory this week, hinting at future monetisation opportunities tied to third-party apps inside ChatGPT.

Elsewhere, rivals are exploring their own paths to scale. Google is steadily pushing ads into AI-powered experiences across Search, AI Overviews, shopping, and Discover. Anthropic, meanwhile, is focusing squarely on enterprise customers and is reportedly targeting $70 billion in annual revenue by 2028.