OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrived in Washington this week with a carefully crafted message for policymakers: Artificial intelligence is already boosting productivity for millions of Americans, and his company intends to keep it “democratic” by putting it in everyone’s hands. As the capital buzzes with debates over AI regulation, Altman is positioning OpenAI not as a disruptor to be feared, but as an engine for universal progress.
“It’s not about stopping disruption, but putting it into people’s hands so they have the opportunity to benefit,” a source familiar with Altman’s thinking told Axios.
The timing of this pitch could not be more strategic. ChatGPT is now handling a staggering 2.5 billion prompts every day, with 330 million daily queries coming from the U.S. alone, OpenAI told Axios. Just eight months ago, that figure was a billion daily prompts. For perspective, Google processes an estimated 14 to 16 billion daily searches. This means that in less than two years, OpenAI’s conversational AI has grown to handle a volume equivalent to one sixth of the world’s largest search engine.
The Stakes: A Changing Search Habit
For decades, search meant one thing: “Google it.” A new analysis by marketing researcher Rand Fishkin of Datos shows just how ingrained this behavior has been. In 2024, the average active American desktop user performed 126 unique Google searches a month. That includes everything from navigational queries like “Facebook login” to shopping, news, and local lookups.
But AI tools like ChatGPT are starting to chip away at that habit, and not just for power users. A small but growing cohort is using AI as a direct replacement for search engines, asking it to find, summarize, or create answers instead of scanning a list of blue links. Fishkin notes that while most users have not ditched Google yet, the threat is real enough that Google has defensively rolled out its own AI powered “Search Generative Experience” and even a “Web” tab for users who still prefer traditional links.
Why It Matters for Google
Google’s core business is search advertising, which generated $175 billion in revenue last year, accounting for more than half of its total $307 billion in revenue. If even a fraction of high value searches migrate to ChatGPT, Google’s economic engine faces a significant long term risk. The company is spending billions to integrate its own Gemini AI into search, but that strategy carries two major dilemmas:
Cannibalization: AI generated answers could reduce the number of ad clicks, directly undercutting its primary revenue stream.
Reputation: By scrambling to integrate similar features, Google risks looking like it is copying OpenAI rather than innovating.
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