OpenAI is projecting a significant expansion of its paying user base, estimating that more than 220 million people will subscribe to ChatGPT by the end of the decade, according to reporting from Reuters and The Information that cited a person familiar with the company’s internal forecasts.
The projection assumes that by 2030, roughly 8.5 percent of an expected 2.6 billion weekly users will opt for a paid tier. If realised, that scale would place ChatGPT among the largest subscription services operating globally.
The company’s current paid base is far smaller. As of July, about 35 million weekly users had subscribed to either the twenty dollar Plus plan or the two hundred dollar Pro offering. That figure represents around five percent of ChatGPT’s weekly active users, the report said.
Reuters noted that it could not independently confirm the projections, and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
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The growth in paying customers comes as the company’s financial picture remains complex. OpenAI’s annualised revenue run rate is expected to reach twenty billion dollars by the end of this year, but its costs are rising quickly. The Information reported in September that the company generated roughly 4.3 billion dollars in revenue during the first six months of 2025 and recorded losses of about 2.5 billion dollars, largely driven by spending on research, new models and the computational demands of operating ChatGPT.
OpenAI expects future revenue to come not only from subscriptions but also from newer product lines. Around twenty percent of its earnings may be tied to features linked to shopping or advertising, according to the report. This week, the company introduced a personal shopping assistant within ChatGPT, a move that could support advertising or commission based revenue streams as the product develops.