Since its launch in November 2022, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, ChatGPT, has experienced a meteoric rise, evolving from a productivity tool to a global behemoth with over 800 million weekly active users by October 2025. The year 2024 marked significant milestones, including OpenAI's partnership with Apple for its generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, the release of GPT-4o with voice capabilities, and the highly anticipated launch of its text-to-video model, Sora. However, this growth has also been accompanied by internal drama, high-level executive exits, and numerous legal challenges.

OpenAI has consistently pushed the boundaries of its AI models. In August 2025, it unveiled GPT-5, a next-generation AI that is not only smarter but also more useful, capable of handling complex tasks like coding applications, managing calendars, and creating research briefs. GPT-5 offers new “Auto,” “Fast,” and “Thinking” modes to cater to diverse user needs. This was followed by the September 2025 release of GPT-5-Codex, an AI coding agent that dynamically adapts to task complexity, outperforming GPT-5 on key coding benchmarks. Despite the launch of GPT-5, OpenAI continues to offer several legacy AI options, including GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, and o3, while also pursuing open-source initiatives with models like gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b introduced in August 2025.

The company has dramatically expanded ChatGPT's capabilities and features throughout 2025. User interaction has been enhanced with an upgraded conversational voice mode in June, allowing for more natural and fluid discussions, and easier language translation. Parental controls were rolled out in September, enabling safeguards like content limits and quiet hours, alongside tightened rules for teens to block flirtatious exchanges and strengthen protections around suicide discussions. Educational tools such as Study Mode (July 2025) and a “Study Together” feature (July 2025) were introduced to promote critical thinking. For personalized assistance, ChatGPT Pulse debuted in September, offering proactive morning briefs, and users gained the ability to assign traits like “Chatty” or “Gen Z” to the chatbot in January.

Automation and agentic AI have been a key focus. OpenAI launched the general-purpose ChatGPT Agent in July 2025, capable of navigating calendars, drafting presentations, running code, and shopping online. This was complemented by the deep research agent (February 2025) and Operator (January 2025) for autonomous web tasks. New tools, including the Responses API launched in March 2025, were developed to help businesses build customized AI agents, replacing the Assistants API slated for discontinuation in mid-2026. These advanced agents are reportedly being priced up to $20,000 per month for PhD-level research applications.

OpenAI also made significant strides in e-commerce and media generation. Instant Checkout launched in September 2025, allowing U.S. users to purchase directly from Etsy and Shopify within ChatGPT. A partnership with Walmart in October further integrated shopping capabilities. The image generation feature received a major upgrade in March, utilizing the GPT-4o model for direct image creation and editing, which led to a surge in AI-generated images, with over 700 million created by April 2025. Restrictions on image generation for public figures and certain symbols were removed in March, and the company started working on watermarks for AI-generated images in April.

Strategically, OpenAI expanded its global footprint with budget-friendly ChatGPT Go plans in India (August 2025), Indonesia (September 2025), and 16 other Asian countries (October 2025). Data residency programs were established in Europe (February 2025) and Asia (May 2025) to address local data sovereignty requirements. The “OpenAI for Countries” program, unveiled in May, aims to develop local AI infrastructure globally, part of the ambitious Project Stargate data center expansion. The company also made a major push into federal government workflows, offering ChatGPT Enterprise to agencies for just $1 in August and launching ChatGPT Gov in January to provide tailored security, privacy, and compliance for U.S. government agencies.

Despite its successes, OpenAI faced a multitude of challenges and controversies. Legal battles included lawsuits alleging copyright infringement from Alden Global Capital-owned newspapers, an injunction from Elon Musk to halt its transition to a for-profit entity, and an xAI lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI for alleged market collusion. Defamation lawsuits arose from false claims generated by ChatGPT, notably affecting an Australian mayor, and a privacy complaint in Europe highlighted concerns over defamatory hallucinations and GDPR compliance. Safety and ethical issues were paramount, with lawsuits linking the chatbot to a teen’s suicide leading to the rapid implementation of parental controls and stricter rules for minors. OpenAI also addressed a sycophancy “bug” in GPT-4o in April and implemented safeguards against biorisks in its o3 and o4-mini models. Concerns about transparency and model reliability were raised after GPT-4.1 appeared less aligned and the o3 model scored lower than expected on a benchmark test. Operational hurdles, such as capacity issues delaying product releases and debates over ChatGPT’s energy consumption, also surfaced. A June 2025 MIT study suggested ChatGPT might be harming critical thinking skills, adding to societal impact concerns, particularly as more teens reported using it for schoolwork.

Looking ahead, OpenAI continues to pursue ambitious ventures, including reportedly laying the groundwork for one of the largest funding rounds in history and planning its own social media network to compete with tech giants. CEO Sam Altman has expressed a vision for deeply personalized ChatGPT experiences that could track every aspect of a person’s life, hinting at the future direction of AI companionship and assistance. The company also underwent leadership reshuffles in March, with Brad Lightcap focusing on global expansion and partnerships, while Sam Altman shifts his focus to research and products.