ChatGPT turns 3 on Sunday – here's how far it’s really come and where it’s heading next

On November 30, 2022, ChatGPT arrived on the internet as a “research preview” with little to hint that it would be the flagship product for a wide and still expanding range of products, even to the point of being used as a generic name for generative AI chatbots and tools. Running the still-new GPT-3.5 and full of disclaimers about its limits, ChatGPT still only took weeks to become one of the fastest-growing consumer apps in history. Analysts estimated it hit 100 million users in about two months, an adoption curve that made Instagram and TikTok seem niche in comparison.

Three years later, ChatGPT is more commonly considered a utility than a novelty. The logo sits on browser bookmarks and phone home screens next to email, calendars, and banking apps. The engine underneath has leapt from GPT-3.5 to GPT-4, GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-5, and its newest ...