The End of ChatGPT's Monopoly: Google and Anthropic's Fierce Pursuit and AI Market Shifts by the Numbers

While OpenAI remains a dominant leader of overwhelming scale in the field of artificial intelligence, the 'ChatGPT-only era' is officially coming to an end. According to the latest data released as of May 15, 2026, although ChatGPT's weekly active user count has hit an all-time high, its share of web traffic is showing a downward trend. This is because Google and Anthropic are leveraging the strengths of their respective platforms to absorb large numbers of users and close the gap.

As companies begin to look beyond OpenAI, ChatGPT's web traffic share is falling while competitors' shares are rising.

According to a report by Decrypt on May 14, 2026, OpenAI is still growing but faces a sustained decline in 'share of voice' and web traffic dominance for the first time. Analysis suggests that cracks are beginning to appear in the market's monopolistic structure as users move away from relying on a single AI tool and begin utilizing various AI toolsets depending on the purpose.

OpenAI's Massive Foundation: 900 Million Users

OpenAI's scale of operation still overwhelms its competitors. In an official announcement on February 27, 2026, OpenAI stated that its weekly active users (WAU) surpassed 900 million. This was revealed alongside news of a massive $110 billion investment, setting a giant benchmark for competitors to chase. Furthermore, OpenAI maintains a strong revenue base with 50 million subscribers across all paid tiers.

• OpenAI (ChatGPT): 900 million weekly active users, projected 2026 annual revenue of $29.4 billion
• Google (Gemini): 750 million monthly active users (as of early 2026)
• Anthropic (Claude): Approximately 30 million monthly active users with a focus on the enterprise market

Google's Gemini has emerged as the strongest challenger in terms of consumer reach. The Gemini app's monthly active users (MAU) nearly doubled from approximately 400 million in May 2025 to 750 million in early 2026. This growth suggests that the integration strategy of AI Pro and Ultra bundles through Google Workspace and cloud channels has successfully taken hold.

Changes in the enterprise market are also noteworthy. OpenAI's paid enterprise users reached 9 million, a fourfold increase compared to September 2025, but a shift in quality is being detected. According to analysis by Writer.com, while many companies remain stuck in AI strategies without substantial results, an increasing number of firms are turning to specialized models like Anthropic's Claude, which are optimized for specific workflows.

Differences in Structural Advantage and Platform Control

According to analysis by MindStudio, Google took the first place in momentum rankings, surpassing OpenAI in nine weighted categories including platform control and consumer reach. Despite OpenAI's first-mover advantage, Google's ability to integrate with its existing ecosystem has begun to carry more weight in the long-term battle for market dominance.

OpenAI also faces challenges in terms of data acquisition. OpenAI's GPTBot extracts data for training at a significantly higher rate than Google, which is a structural reason why many publishers are blocking AI crawlers via robots.txt. Unlike competitors that possess search engines or their own platforms, OpenAI risks being at a disadvantage in the future competition for high-quality data access rights.

In conclusion, the AI market in mid-2026 is reorganizing into a multipolar system rather than OpenAI's solo run. While OpenAI is not losing in absolute numbers, the growth momentum shown by Google and Anthropic signals a future where users choose specialized utilities over a single portal. The May 2026 data shows that the AI market is moving from universal accessibility toward efficiency that meets specific purposes.