What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a conversational AI product initially offered for free, a strategy that proved revenue and retention positive (Nick Turley, Mar 2026). It has been compared to Netscape Navigator as a landmark technology, with the AI cycle potentially spanning 20-30 years (Gavin Baker, Mar 2026).

• Dec 2025 - Max Bennett: if ChatGPT learned from every chat, it would get rapidly dumber.
• Jan 2026 - Yejin Choi: ChatGPT and other models exhibit intermodel homogeneity, sometimes generating nearly identical output.
• Mar 2026 - Nick Turley: the most common inquiry about ads is how to run one, not how to disable them; retention curves are “smiling.”
• Apr 2026 - Brian Greene: ChatGPT reproduced in half an hour results that took months to achieve.
• May 2026 - Alex Lupsasca: ChatGPT is like a collaborator, akin to a professor advising students.
• Jun 2026 - Andrew Ambrosino: ChatGPT is a great home base for tracking tasks across surfaces, with some tasks done entirely in the app and others opening other apps.
• Jul 2026 - Rory O’Driscoll: about 10% of his portfolio was “Lily DOA” when ChatGPT came out because they had solved an AI problem that was much easier to solve with ChatGPT.
• Jul 2026 - Alistair Pullen: hasn’t seen any implementation (including ChatGPT) that feels truly robust, not just a hack.
• Jul 2026 - Nathaniel Whittemore: people’s brain connectivity declines as much as 55% when using ChatGPT compared to not using it.
• Jul 2026 - Corey Gannon: maybe 5% of companies use any AI tool other than ChatGPT.