OpenAI Reports ChatGPT User Growth Resuming; Codex Surge and Advertising Pilot Amid $1T Financing Talk (NASDAQ: OPEX)

OpenAI’s growth is resuming, with ChatGPT user additions climbing to over 10% monthly and a new version of the chat model scheduled for release this week. The company now serves over 800 million active users weekly as competition from Google and Anthropic intensifies. Internal messaging highlights a 50% surge in Codex usage within a week, outpacing Anthropic’s Claude Code. OpenAI paused projects last December to strengthen ChatGPT, recently released GPT-5.3-Codex, and launched a standalone app for Apple computers. A dispute with Anthropic over advertising in ChatGPT is ongoing, with OpenAI maintaining ads will be clearly marked and not alter responses, and long-term ad revenue expected to be less than half of total revenue. Management is preparing for a potential $1 billion financing round emphasizing growth in consumer and enterprise markets, compute capacity, and developer tools. OpenAI closed a $410 billion fundraising in March, including a $300 billion contribution from SoftBank and $110 billion from other investors, with follow-on rounds potentially led by Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Amazon.