ChatGPT downloads are slowing — and may cause problems for OpenAI’s IPO
SkimNews Take
Rapid user growth, while initially promising for an IPO, creates a challenging baseline for sustained, exponential expansion, making even strong year-over-year increases appear insufficient to investors.
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- OpenAI missed its internal user and revenue targets, prompting CFO Sarah Friar to flag risks to the planned IPO.
- Sensor Tower reported a 132% YoY rise in ChatGPT uninstalls in April and a 413% YoY jump the month after the Pentagon deal.
- ChatGPT saw monthly active users grow only 78% in April versus 168% in January, indicating a sharp slowdown.
- Claude achieved an 11‑times increase in downloads over the same period, outpacing ChatGPT’s 14% YoY gain.
- Pentagon signed a deal with OpenAI in February, after which uninstall rates spiked, suggesting the partnership didn’t translate into sustained user retention.
Why it matters: OpenAI's investors face a tighter IPO valuation because user growth slowed 78% in April and uninstalls jumped 413% YoY, threatening the company's ability to fund future compute contracts and meet revenue targets.
