The number of domestic users of ChatGPT has surged amid the emergence of China's AI service, DeepSeek, and the ensuing controversy. Analysts suggest that security concerns surrounding DeepSeek are driving users toward ChatGPT.
According to mobile data analytics firm IGAWorks' Mobile Index on the 23rd, ChatGPT's weekly active mobile users (WAU) surpassed 2 million in February.
In the first week of February (3rd–9th), the WAU reached 2,025,546, marking the first time it exceeded the 2 million threshold. The following week (10th–16th), it continued to rise to 2,092,797. This represents a significant increase from the 1.5 million users recorded around the end of the year and the beginning of the new year.
Although the introduction of DeepSeek was expected to intensify AI competition, in South Korea, it has instead led to an increase in ChatGPT users.
In the last week of January (January 27th–February 2nd), both DeepSeek and ChatGPT saw a rise in weekly users, with ChatGPT reaching 1,804,499. However, as the government, public institutions, and businesses moved to ban DeepSeek due to security concerns, ChatGPT has absorbed much of the demand.
This trend is expected to accelerate further after the Personal Information Protection Commission temporarily suspended new downloads of DeepSeek in South Korea on February 17th.
In fact, ChatGPT's daily active users rose from 760,776 on February 16th—the day before the DeepSeek ban—to 829,459 on February 17th, and further increased to 855,979 on February 18th.
This phenomenon is not limited to South Korea. OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer, Brad Lightcap, revealed in an interview with CNBC on February 20th that ChatGPT had reached 400 million weekly active users globally in February.
This marks a 33% increase from 300 million users in December, and a twofold rise compared to August last year, when it had 200 million users.
The enterprise customer base is also expanding rapidly. ChatGPT's paid enterprise users have now reached 2 million, doubling in just six months. Global companies such as Uber, Morgan Stanley, Moderna, and T-Mobile are actively utilizing ChatGPT in their operations.
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ChatGPT Sees Surge in Domestic Users Amid DeepSeek Controversy, Shifting AI Competition
The number of domestic users of ChatGPT has surged amid the emergence of China's AI service, DeepSeek, and the ensuing controversy. Analysts suggest that secur
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