ChatGPT gains 1,000,000 new users in one hour after launching major new free feature

The release of ChatGPT's new major image generation software on its free tier has led to a record-breaking influx of new users, amounting to over 1,000,000 fresh sign-ups in just a single hour.

ChatGPT's release at the end of 2022 is largely considered to be the beginning of what's now considered the 'AI revolution' as it opened the flood gates for what was possible in the world of generative artificial intelligence technology.

Many of its initial use cases were limited to text-based generations, as many used the service as a chatbot or to write things like emails and university essays, but ChatGPT has come a long way since then.

Image generation has become one of the services primary use cases, especially since the ability to create Studio Ghibli-like images became viral across social media, but the latest update has only further enhanced its performance, causing a major bump in numbers.

As reported by the Independent, OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman revealed on X that ChatGPT achieved a record-breaking number of signups following the release of '4o Image Generation' for free:

"the chatgpt launch 26 months ago was one of the craziest viral moment i'd ever seen," Altman outlined, "and we added one million users in five days. we added one million users in the last hour."

the chatgpt launch 26 months ago was one of the craziest viral moments i'd ever seen, and we added one million users in five days.

we added one million users in the last hour.

— Sam Altman (@sama) March 31, 2025

It's unclear what a regular hour of ChatGPT sign-ups looks like, especially after a new release, but the fact that Altman deemed it worthy of posting about indicates that it was a major milestone for the company that appears to dominate the AI space.

You might then be wondering why there's such demand for the latest release of ChatGPT, and it's all down to a feature that OpenAI have deemed "not only beautiful, but useful."

Not only has 4o Image Generation increased the quality, reliability, and consistency of ChatGPT's ability to create images, but it also conquers one of its biggest battles - the ability to accurately render text.

"GPT-4o image generation excels at accurately rendering text, precisely following prompts, and leveraging 4o's inherent knowledge base and chat context - including transforming uploaded images or using them as visual inspiration," reveals OpenAI in the release statement.

"These capabilities make it easier to create exactly the image you envision, helping you communicate more effectively through visuals and advancing image generation into a practical tool with precision and power."

Fundamentally it becomes both far easier to use ChatGPT to create images in a wider range of contexts, and simultaneously far harder to spot the typical tell-tale signs of AI generation in an image created by the tool.

Hilariously, one of the examples that OpenAI has used to show off its new-found capabilities is an image of a nearly empty wine glass - which is a conundrum that has long troubled AI due to its seemingly complex nature.

Altman recently revealed that the virality of the aforementioned 'Ghibli-like' images was 'causing their GPUs to melt', and temporary rate limits were introduced as a means to keep up with demand.

we are getting things under control, but you should expect new releases from openai to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges.

— Sam Altman (@sama) April 1, 2025

It's not clear whether the release of 4o has had similarly intensive results, but Altman explained in a recent post that "you should expect new releases from openai to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges," adding that he's looking for 'anyone with GPU capacity in 100k chunks', likely to handle the increased demand.