ChatGPT’s Evolution: A Timeline of Updates, Features, and Controversies

ChatGPT: A Comprehensive Timeline of Developments and Challenges

Since its launch in November 2022, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, ChatGPT, has rapidly transformed from a tool for boosting productivity to a major player in the tech sector. At the beginning, users employed the tool to assist with code and essay writing using simple text prompts, however over time the tool has transformed into a platform with 300 million weekly active users. This article will outline the key stages, updates, advancements, and controversies that have defined ChatGPT’s journey.

Content Type Identification

This document is a news article, focusing on factual reporting of events with some elements of an informational blog. The content targets readers who are interested in technology, artificial intelligence, and current events. The style is a blend of journalism and technical documentation.

Content and Image Analysis

This article consolidates information about ChatGPT’s product updates, new features, and controversies. It includes significant dates, key announcements, and the context around these events. The goal is to provide a clear, chronological overview.

0. Initial Image Curation

There are currently no images in the original content to filter or curate.

1. Content Type Identification

This is a hybrid article, combining elements of a news report, a technical overview, and a FAQ. The style is formal while still remaining accessible, and the tone is informative and neutral.

2. Content and Image Analysis

The content has been analyzed and rewritten with focus on the main subject of the article – the history, updates and features of ChatGPT. All the key points of the original have been kept.

3. Genre-Appropriate Rewriting

This article adopts an accessible structure suitable for news/blog hybrid content. The structure includes a timeline to organize major events and milestones in ChatGPT’s evolution. The text is written in clear language, using appropriate technical terms where necessary, and the tone is objective where appropriate. This rewriting is guided by the inverted pyramid structure, starting with the most critical information and moving to less central details.

4. Human Writing Characteristics

The rewritten text incorporates variations in sentence structure and varied paragraph length. The text integrates natural transitions and includes appropriate emphasis on important points as a human writer would.

5. Refinement and Quality Control

The text maintains a neutral tone, avoids robotic patterns, and incorporates English idioms as appropriate. All information is accurately presented and follows journalistic practices while also adhering to the stylistic conventions appropriate of a blog.

ChatGPT Updates Timeline

This section presents a chronological overview of ChatGPT updates and significant events, starting with the most recent.

March 2025

• Privacy Complaint in Europe: A privacy rights group, Noyb, brought a complaint against OpenAI to challenge ChatGPT’s handling of personal data. This action followed a situation in Norway where incorrect information about an individual’s criminal history was generated by the chatbot.
• Transcription and Voice AI Models Upgrades: OpenAI upgraded its AI models for transcription and voice generation, launching “gpt-4o-mini-tts”, a more nuanced text-to-speech model. The launch also included speech-to-text (gpt-4o-transcribe and gpt-4o-mini-transcribe) models. The company indicates the model can hallucinate less than earlier versions.
• Launch of o1-pro: OpenAI introduced o1-pro, which is a more powerful version of o1. According to OpenAI, o1-pro uses more computing power than o1 to deliver “consistently better responses.” It is available to developers who have spent at least $5 on OpenAI services. The model is expensive, with input costing $150 per million tokens and output costing $600 per million tokens, making it more costly than GPT-4.5 and regular o1.
• Noam Brown’s Perspective on AI Reasoning: OpenAI research lead Noam Brown stated that AI reasoning models may have been developed sooner if the right approaches and algorithms had been found.
• AI for Creative Writing: OpenAI stated that the company had trained a new AI model with strong creative writing skills. A sample of the model’s metafictional short story was shared by CEO Sam Altman.
• Launch of Tools for Business AI Agents: OpenAI released new tools enabling developers to create AI agents—automated systems that can perform tasks independently. These tools are part of the Responses API, enabling the creation of customized AI agents capable of web searches, document analysis, and website navigation.
• Pricing for Specialized AI Agents: OpenAI is planning to release multiple “agent” products, including solutions that can perform software engineering, sort and rank sales leads. These agents could be priced very high, even $20,000 per month for “PhD-level research” agents.
• Code Editing in macOS ChatGPT App: A new version of the macOS ChatGPT app allows users to edit code directly in supported developer tools like VS Code and Xcode. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers can use the feature now, and the company plans to roll it out for more users.

February 2025

• OpenAI Cancels o3 Model: OpenAI canceled the previously announced o3 AI model in favor of integrating its technologies into what CEO Sam Altman described as a simplified GPT-5 release that includes o3.
• ChatGPT’s Power Consumption: A study by Epoch AI revealed ChatGPT’s average query consumes around 0.3 watt-hours, using GPT4o model, which is lower than previously cited figures, though the study didn’t account for image generation energy usage.
• Enhanced o3-mini Output: OpenAI adapted the way its o3-mini model communicates its “thought” process. Users can now see a chain of thought in ChatGPT, offering more insight into how the model develops its answers.
• ChatGPT Web Search Without Login: OpenAI allowed anybody to use ChatGPT web search without having an account. However, log-in is still required for use in the mobile app.
• New ChatGPT Agent for Deep Research: OpenAI announced a new AI “agent” called deep research, enabling extensive research using ChatGPT.
• Persuasion Test on Reddit: OpenAI engaged in a test of its AI persuasion models in the r/ChangeMyView subreddit, comparing the models’ success to human responses.
• Launch of o3-mini: OpenAI launched o3-mini, the newest in the company’s o family of models, which the company positioned as powerful and affordable.
• ChatGPT Mobile User Demographics: Appfigures reported that the majority (85%) of ChatGPT mobile users are male, and a significant number of users are under 25 years old.
• ChatGPT for US Government Agencies: OpenAI launched ChatGPT Gov, offering U.S. government agencies secure access to its technology with data management features to handle non-public sensitive data.
• ChatGPT Use in Schoolwork: A Pew Research Center survey showed that more teens are using ChatGPT for schoolwork, although concerns have been raised about the technology’s shortcomings.
• Data Retention Policy for Operator: OpenAI may retain deleted Operator data and associated screenshots for up to 90 days after the user deleting them, a longer period of retention than ChatGPT.
• Launch of Operator: OpenAI launched Operator, an AI agent able to automate tasks such as booking travel, making reservations, and shopping online.
• Testing Phone Number Login: OpenAI began testing a feature that allows new ChatGPT users to sign up using a phone number alone, without an email, which is in beta testing in the United States and India.
• Scheduled Reminders in ChatGPT: Introducing new features, ChatGPT will allow you to set up reminders and recurring tasks.
• Customizable ChatGPT Traits: OpenAI enabled a new way for users to tailor their interactions with ChatGPT. Some users can customize the chatbot’s “traits” and give it a preferred name.

December 2024

• Misleading ChatGPT Search Results: Research indicated that ChatGPT Search could produce misleading summaries and generate malicious code by utilizing hidden text on websites.
• Microsoft and OpenAI’s AGI Definition: The Information reported that Microsoft and OpenAI share a very specific internal definition of AGI (artificial general intelligence) based on financial returns, which is AI systems generating at least $100 billion in profit.
• Alignment Research for o1 and o3: OpenAI released research about how it made o1 and o3 “think” about its own safety policy.
• OpenAI’s o3 Reasoning Models: OpenAI unveiled the next generation o3 and o3-mini reasoning models.
• ChatGPT via Landline: OpenAI made ChatGPT available by calling a 1-800 number.
• ChatGPT Search Access to More Users: ChatGPT Search became available to free, logged-in users. Search was also integrated into Advanced Voice Mode.
• ChatGPT Outage: OpenAI attributed a major ChatGPT outage to a “new telemetry service.”
• ChatGPT “Santa Mode” Voice: For a limited time, users could access a “Santa Mode” voice within ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode.
• Vision Capabilities in Advanced Voice Mode: Real-time video functionalities were released, enabling users to point their phones at objects and speak with ChatGPT. This feature is available to Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers.
• Sora and ChatGPT Outage: Both ChatGPT and Sora had a major outage due to a configuration change.
• Canvas Goes Live for All: OpenAI’s collaboration-focused interface for writing and code projects, Canvas, rolled out to all users after being in beta for ChatGPT Plus members.
• Sora Sign-ups Paused: Due to unexpected demand, OpenAI paused new sign-ups for its video generator, Sora.
• OpenAI Launches Sora: OpenAI finally released Sora to ChatGPT Pro and Plus subscribers. The model can generate videos up to 20 seconds long in 1080p based on text prompts and pictures.
• $200 Monthly ChatGPT Pro Subscription: OpenAI announced a new — and expensive — subscription plan featuring unlimited access to all of OpenAI’s models, including the full version of its o1 “reasoning” model.
• 12 Days of Reveals: OpenAI unveiled “12 Days of OpenAI,” which will feature livestreams every weekday starting December 5 at 10 a.m. PT where they announced new products and features.

November 2024

• 300 Million Weekly Users: CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT surpassed 300 million weekly active users.
• “David Mayer” Issue: ChatGPT refused to answer questions about “David Mayer,” likely connected to digital privacy requests. Other names were quickly affected as well.
• Potential for Ads: OpenAI explored putting ads in ChatGPT, however, ads would be a “last resort.”
• Canadian News Lawsuit: Multiple Canadian media companies sued OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement.
• GPT-4o Update: GPT-4o model was updated, featuring more “natural” creative writing capabilities.
• Advanced Voice Mode on Web: ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode rolled out to the web for paid subscribers.
• Desktop App Accessing Code: The macOS ChatGPT app was updated to access code in developer apps.
• Safety Researcher Departure: Lilian Weng, VP of research and safety, left OpenAI, contributing to a trend of departures within the company.
• 2 Million Election Recommendations: OpenAI recommended that 2 million users seek election information elsewhere, directing them to credible sources.
• Chat.com Acquisition: OpenAI’s Sam Altman confirmed the acquisition of Chat.com, which redirects to ChatGPT.
• Meta’s Hardware Lead Joins: The former head of Meta’s augmented reality glasses efforts joined OpenAI to lead robotics and consumer hardware.
• Apple Integration: Apple users may soon be able to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus via the Settings app.

October 2024

• Compute Delays: Sam Altman cited a lack of computing capacity as a factor that prevents the company from shipping products as often as they like.
• ChatGPT Search Launch: OpenAI launched ChatGPT Search to provide information and media from the web to improve search-related functionality. An improved vision mode had also been hinted at.
• Advanced Voice Mode on Desktop: Advanced Voice Mode was released on ChatGPT’s desktop apps for macOS and Windows.
• AI Chip Development: OpenAI plans to build its own AI chip, working with TSMC and Broadcom.
• Chat History Search: OpenAI launched a feature to search through ChatGPT chat history.
• ChatGPT Integration with Apple Intelligence: Apple Intelligence features powered by ChatGPT became available to users in the iOS 18.1 update.
• Orion Model Absence: OpenAI denied claims that it would release Orion, which was codenamed by December 2024.
• ChatGPT for Windows: A dedicated Windows app for ChatGPT was previewed. It is available to Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users.
• Content Deal With Hearst: OpenAI struck a content deal with Hearst, allowing it to surface stories from Hearst publications with citations and direct links.
• Canvas Interface: OpenAI introduced a new “Canvas” for writing and coding projects.
• $6.6 Billion Raised: OpenAI closed one of the largest VC rounds of all time, raising $6.6 billion. The company’s valuation went up to $157 billion.
• Realtime API: The Dev Day brought a new API that would allow developers to build nearly real-time, speech-to-speech experiences in their apps.

September 2024

• Price Hike: OpenAI may potentially raise the price of individual ChatGPT subscriptions to $44 by 2029.
• Mira Murati’s Departure: Mira Murati resigned from OpenAI as CTO.
• Advanced Voice Mode Launch: Advanced Voice Mode rolled out to an expanded group of ChatGPT paying customers.
• Graphing Calculator Workaround: A YouTuber demonstrated how to modify a TI-84 calculator to enable ChatGPT access.
• OpenAI o1 Model: OpenAI unveiled a preview of OpenAI o1, a model that can improve accuracy through self-fact-checking.
• Bomb-making Instructions: A hacker tricked ChatGPT into generating explosive instructions.
• 1 Million Corporate Users: OpenAI has reached 1 million paid corporate users across all its business offerings.
• Volkswagen ChatGPT Assistant: Volkswagen rolled out ChatGPT assistant to vehicles in the United States.

August 2024

• Content Deal with Condé Nast As part of the new partnership, OpenAI will surface stories from Condé Nast properties in ChatGPT and SearchGPT.
• Impressions of Advanced Voice Mode: Advanced Voice Mode was seen as a convincing feature.
• Election Influence Operation Shutdown: OpenAI banned ChatGPT accounts that were part of an Iranian influence operation.
• GPT-4o Quirks OpenAI acknowledged that GPT-4o shows some unexpected, unusual behaviors.
• Revenue Growth of Mobile App: The ChatGPT mobile app reached its highest ever net revenue.
• Student Cheating Detection: OpenAI developed a watermarking tool to potentially detect cheating students, though the release remains under consideration.

July 2024

• Advanced Voice Mode Rollout Started: OpenAI made the alpha version of GPT-4o available to a select group of paid subscribers.
• SearchGPT Launch: OpenAI tested SearchGPT, a new AI search experience, aiming to provide search results with clear sources.
• Potential $5 Billion Loss: According to a report, OpenAI may lose up to $5 billion, and spend $7 billion in 2024 to train and operate ChatGPT.
• Launch of GPT-4o Mini: OpenAI released GPT-4o mini, a smaller and faster AI model that outperforms leading small AI models.
• Bioscience Research Partnership: OpenAI partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory for bioscience research.

June 2024

• CriticGPT Model: OpenAI announced CriticGPT, an AI model made to evaluate and improve the accuracy of ChatGPT by detecting errors in its coding outputs to help improve the human review process.
• Content Deal with TIME: OpenAI and TIME announced a strategic, multi-year partnership that brings the magazine’s content, both modern and archival, to ChatGPT.
• Delayed Voice Mode Launch: OpenAI postponed the general launch of its advanced Voice Mode due to unspecified issues.
• ChatGPT for Mac: The ChatGPT app for macOS was released for general use.
• Integrating ChatGPT into Apple Devices: Apple announced at WWDC 2024 that it will incorporate ChatGPT into Siri and other first-party apps and capabilities across its operating systems.
• Scarlett Johansson Hearing: Scarlett Johansson was invited to testify about the “Sky” voice controversy before the House Oversight Subcommittee.
• ChatGPT Outages: ChatGPT experienced two separate outages on the same day.

May 2024

• Content Deals with The Atlantic and Vox Media: OpenAI partnered with The Atlantic and Vox Media through licensing and product agreements.
• PwC Agreement OpenAI announced that they are partnering with the management giant PwC for a new enterprise deal for over 100,000 users.
• GPT-4 Successor Training: OpenAI announced it had begun training a successor to GPT-4.
• OpenAI Board Knowledge of ChatGPT: On The TED AI Show podcast, former OpenAI board member Helen Toner revealed that the board did not know about ChatGPT until it’s launch in November 2022.
• Mobile App Revenue Spike: The mobile app revenue experienced a significant spike after the GPT-4o launch.
• Scarlett Johansson-Like Voice Removed (Sky Voice): OpenAI removed one of its voices (Sky) due to resemblance to Scarlett Johansson’s voice.
• Google Drive and OneDrive File Integration: Additional features have been added to ChatGPT with Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive file integrations and interactive tables and charts.
• Reddit Partnership: OpenAI and Reddit will have a partnership to benefit users and moderators to help incorporate content and generate features from the social network.
• GPT-4o Launch: OpenAI unveiled its new “omni” model called GPT-4o and is being rolled out over the upcoming weeks.
• Opt-Out Tool for Content Creators: OpenAI is planning to begin development on how content creators can opt out of AI training by 2025.
• Exploration of AI Porn: OpenAI has started starting the conversation on its new NSFW (not safe for work) policy.
• Stack Overflow Partnership: OpenAI has created a new partnership with Stack Overflow to improve performance of AI models in return for attributions to Stack Overflow.

April 2024

• Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI: Alden Global Capital-owned newspapers and Microsoft filed a copyright infringement lawsuit.
• Financial Times Deal: OpenAI partnered with the Financial Times for content access.
• Tokyo Hub Launch: OpenAI is opening an office in Tokyo and plans to release a Japanese language-optimized GPT-4 model.
• Fortune 500 Companies Pitching: Sam Altman pitched ChatGPT Enterprise to Fortune 500 executives.
• GPT-4 Turbo Version Release: A new GPT-4 Turbo was released to paid users, with improvements in writing, math, logic, and coding.
• Account-Free ChatGPT: The ability to use ChatGPT without an account was launched, though some features will be limited.

March 2024

• GPT Store Issues: The OpenAI’s GPT Store is filling up with spam and copyright infringement.
  
• New York Times Lawsuit Response: The New York Times responded to OpenAI’s claims that it “hacked” ChatGPT for its copyright lawsuit by stating the claims are false.
• Compensation for Artists: OpenAI has been asked about compensating artists whose work was used to train generative AI models; however, the answer was avoided by OpenAI’s VP of consumer product.
• ChatGPT Energy Consumption: A report estimates that ChatGPT uses more than half a million kilowatt-hours of electricity per day.
• Read Aloud Feature: The launch of the Read Aloud feature for ChatGPT on the web and the iOS and Android apps.

January & February 2024

• Partnership with Dublin City Council: Partnership with the Dublin City Council to make personalized tourist itineraries using GPT-4.
• Law Firm Controversy: A law firm was criticized by a judge for using ChatGPT to calculate hourly billing rates.
• ChatGPT Bug: The chatbot gave nonsensical answers for a few hours and OpenAI began an investigation.
• Match Group Deal: Match Group created an enterprise agreement with OpenAI.
• ChatGPT “Memory” Controls: OpenAI began rolling out “memory” controls, giving a limited user base the ability to create and manage memory in ChatGPT.
• Temporary Chat: OpenAI started the “Temporary Chat” feature, allowing for a conversation to start with a blank slate.
• GPTs within Chats: Paid users of ChatGPT can bring GPTs into a conversation.
• Username and Password Leak: Screenshots provided to Ars Technica found that ChatGPT is potentially leaking usernames and passwords from users’ private conversations.
• Privacy Law Violation in the EU: OpenAI has been told it’s suspected of violating European Union privacy laws, following a multi-month investigation.
• Common Sense Media Partnership: Partnership with Common Sense Media to collaborate on AI guidelines and education materials.
• Congressional Black Caucus Response: OpenAI responded to the Congressional Black Caucus about lack of diversity on its board.
• Pricing and GPT-4 Turbo Update: OpenAI announced price drops for GPT-3.5’s API, as well as a new preview model for API use for GPT-4 .
• Ban of Impersonating Bot: OpenAI banned an AI bot built to impersonate a presidential candidate.
• Arizona State University Partnership: OpenAI announced its first partnership with a higher education institution, Arizona State University.
• Literary Prize: Rie Kudan, the winner of a literary prize, admitted that ChatGPT was used in some percentage of the book, which also used AI as a plot point.
• GPT-5 and Video Capabilities: Sam Altman confirmed the upcoming release of GPT-5 and its fully multimodal capabilities.
• Collective Alignment Team: OpenAI formed a Collective Alignment team to collect and encode public input into its models’ behaviors into OpenAI products and services.
• Election Misinformation: The company is working to prevent abuse, provide transparency, and improve access to information.
• Military Applications: OpenAI changed its policy to allow military applications.
• ChatGPT Team: Released ChatGPT Team for small businesses.
• GPT Store Launch: OpenAI’s GPT Store officially launched.
• Copyrighted Materials Claim: The company is arguing that copyrighted materials are necessary to train AI models.
• New York Times Lawsuit Response: OpenAI is responding to a lawsuit from The New York Times about copyright infringement and claims it is without merit.
• GPT Store Launch Delay: The launch of the GPT Store has been delayed until sometime during the week.

FAQs

• What is ChatGPT? A general-purpose chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to generate text after a user enters a prompt, developed by tech startup OpenAI.
• When was ChatGPT released? November 30, 2022.
• What is the latest version? GPT-4o.
• Is ChatGPT free? Yes. There is a free version and a paid version.
• Who uses ChatGPT? Anyone can use ChatGPT!
• What companies use ChatGPT? Microsoft, a 3D display startup Looking Glass, and nonprofit organization Solana.
• What does GPT stand for? Generative Pre-Trained Transformer.
• ChatGPT vs. Chatbot? Chatbots can be either AI-powered or rules-based. ChatGPT is AI-powered.
• Can ChatGPT write essays? Yes.
• Can ChatGPT commit libel? Possibly. The models don’t know or care whether something is true, only that it looks true.
• Does ChatGPT have an app? Yes, there is a free ChatGPT mobile app for iOS and Android users.
• ChatGPT character limit? Approximately 500 words.
• Does ChatGPT have an API? Yes, released March 1, 2023.
• Sample uses? Programming, email replies, blog ideas, summarization, etc.
• Advanced uses? Debugging code, scientific concepts, complex problem-solving, etc.
• Good at writing code? It can write working code, but lacks context awareness in some instances.
• Can you save a ChatGPT chat? Yes.
• ChatGPT alternatives? Together, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, and developers are creating other open source alternatives.
• Handles Data Privacy? Individuals could object to processing their personal information by OpenAI’s AI models by filling out a form, including requests for deletion of AI-generated references about you.
• Controversies? False accusations, plagiarism, and legal lawsuits.
• Examples of prompts? Several marketplaces host and provide ChatGPT prompts.
• Can ChatGPT be detected? Poorly.
• Are chats public? No. A bug was disclosed that exposed private conversations.
• Suits Surrounding ChatGPT? None specifically targeting ChatGPT.
• Plagiarism Issues? Yes. GPT-4 can plagiarize.

Conclusion

ChatGPT’s history illustrates a period of rapid technological advancements and expansion. As the technology continues to evolve, issues such as concerns about defamation and privacy, questions about the monetization of these models, and the impacts of generating text, should be carefully considered. By looking back on its history, it is hoped that users will understand both the potential and the complexities of artificial intelligence technology.