AI Usage at a Glance
Timeline
Apr 30, 2020
Creative GenPractice documented: OpenAI tested Jukebox, an AI model capable of generating music with lyrics in various styles, released as open-source research code in 2020; no commercial product exists.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jul 18, 2022
ModerationPractice documented: OpenAI uses automated safety filters on all image generation requests and outputs to detect and block content that violates its safety policies, including explicit sexual content and harmful depictions.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Aug 10, 2022
ModerationPractice documented: OpenAI offers a Moderation API that automatically classifies text and images for potentially harmful content, available to all API users and used internally across OpenAI products.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Sep 21, 2022
ProductivityPractice documented: OpenAI offers Whisper, an AI model that automatically transcribes spoken audio into text, available via the OpenAI API and used within ChatGPT's voice features.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Sep 19, 2023
ModerationPractice documented: OpenAI uses internal and external AI safety evaluations — including red-teaming — to test its models for dangerous capabilities before and after deployment.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 19, 2023
ModerationNew evidence: DALL·E 3 is now available in ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise
Evidence AddedView practice →Oct 19, 2023
Creative GenPractice documented: OpenAI offers AI image generation in ChatGPT and via its API, allowing users to create and edit images from text descriptions using the DALL-E and GPT Image (gpt-image-1) models.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Nov 6, 2023
ProductivityPractice documented: OpenAI offers a tool that lets users and developers build custom AI assistants — called GPTs — tailored for specific tasks, available to paid ChatGPT subscribers through the GPT Store.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Feb 13, 2024
RecommendationPractice documented: OpenAI uses a memory system in ChatGPT that stores facts about users across conversations to personalize future responses, available to all ChatGPT users globally.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Feb 29, 2024
OtherPractice documented: OpenAI announced a collaboration agreement with Figure AI, a humanoid robotics company, through its startup fund in February 2024, supporting the integration of OpenAI's AI models into physical robots.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Sep 24, 2024
Creative GenPractice documented: OpenAI offers AI voice synthesis in ChatGPT and via its API, enabling spoken conversations with AI and converting written text to natural-sounding speech.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 9, 2024
ModerationPractice documented: OpenAI uses AI-assisted analysis to detect and disrupt malicious uses of its platform, including coordinated influence operations, cyberattacks, and other misuse by state and non-state actors.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 31, 2024
OtherPractice documented: OpenAI offers ChatGPT Search, a feature that gives all ChatGPT users the ability to retrieve up-to-date information from the web during conversations, launched in October 2024.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Nov 21, 2024
Creative GenPractice documented: OpenAI offers AI writing assistance through ChatGPT, allowing users across all subscription tiers to generate, edit, and improve text content using GPT-4o and GPT-5 series models.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Dec 9, 2024
Creative GenPractice documented: OpenAI discontinued Sora, a video generation tool that let users type a text prompt or upload an image to produce a short video clip. It launched in December 2024 for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, excluding the UK, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area. A second generation, Sora 2, added synchronized audio and improved physics before the product was shut down in April 2026.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 23, 2025
ProductivityPractice documented: OpenAI offers agentic AI tools — including Operator and ChatGPT Agent — that can browse the web, fill out forms, and execute multi-step tasks on a user's behalf.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Feb 2, 2025
OtherPractice documented: OpenAI offers a Deep Research feature in ChatGPT that autonomously browses the web and synthesizes multi-source reports on complex topics, available to paid subscribers.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Mar 11, 2025
ProductivityPractice documented: OpenAI offers an enterprise AI platform — including the OpenAI API, AgentKit, Agents SDK, and ChatGPT Enterprise — that businesses use to build and deploy custom AI-powered applications and workflows.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Mar 20, 2025
Creative GenNew evidence: Introducing next-generation audio models in the API
Evidence AddedView practice →Apr 18, 2025
RecommendationNew evidence: ChatGPT will now use its ‘memory’ to personalize web searches
Evidence AddedView practice →Jun 5, 2025
ModerationNew evidence: Disrupting malicious uses of AI: June 2025
Evidence AddedView practice →Jun 16, 2025
OtherPractice documented: OpenAI deployed ChatGPT for US government and defense use through its OpenAI for Government platform, including a $200 million Pentagon contract and deployment on the DoD's GenAI.mil platform for approximately 3 million personnel.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jun 17, 2025
OtherNew evidence: 'OpenAI For Government' launches with $200M win from Pentagon CDAO
Evidence AddedView practice →Jul 17, 2025
ProductivityNew evidence: Introducing ChatGPT agent: bridging research and action
Evidence AddedView practice →Aug 27, 2025
ModerationNew evidence: Findings from a pilot Anthropic–OpenAI alignment evaluation exercise: OpenAI Safety Tests
Evidence AddedView practice →Oct 13, 2025
ProductivityPractice documented: OpenAI offers integrations that connect ChatGPT to external tools and business applications, allowing users to automate tasks across services like Google Drive, Slack, and others directly inside ChatGPT.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Oct 29, 2025
ModerationPractice documented: OpenAI uses automated systems to enforce its usage policies across all its products, detecting and blocking requests that violate its guidelines before or after model output is produced.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Nov 24, 2025
RecommendationPractice documented: OpenAI offers a shopping research feature in ChatGPT that generates personalized product recommendations and buyer's guides based on user needs and preferences, launched in November 2025.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Nov 25, 2025
RecommendationNew evidence: ChatGPT adds shopping research with holiday gift advice in mind
Evidence AddedView practice →Jan 8, 2026
OtherPractice documented: OpenAI offers AI tools for healthcare organizations through ChatGPT for Healthcare, enabling clinical documentation, patient communication drafting, and care decision support for health systems.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 19, 2026
RecommendationPractice documented: OpenAI deployed contextual ads in ChatGPT starting February 9, 2026, showing sponsored content to free-tier users based on the topics of their current conversation.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Jan 24, 2026
Data AnalysisPractice documented: OpenAI offers an Advanced Data Analysis feature in ChatGPT that allows users to upload data files and ask the AI to generate insights, charts, and summaries.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Feb 9, 2026
ProductivityPractice documented: OpenAI offers AI-powered coding assistance through its Codex model, integrated into GitHub Copilot and available via the OpenAI API and ChatGPT, helping developers write, complete, and debug code.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Feb 13, 2026
RecommendationNew evidence: OpenAI kicks off test phase for ChatGPT ads
Evidence AddedView practice →Feb 26, 2026
ProductivityNew evidence: Claude and Codex now available for Copilot Business & Pro users
Evidence AddedView practice →Feb 28, 2026
OtherNew evidence: OpenAI announces Pentagon deal after Trump bans Anthropic
Evidence AddedView practice →Mar 18, 2026
ProductivityNew evidence: GPT-5.3-Codex long-term support in GitHub Copilot
Evidence AddedView practice →Mar 19, 2026
Customer SvcPractice documented: OpenAI offers an automated support experience in its own Help Center, where users seeking assistance with ChatGPT and API products are initially directed to AI-generated self-service resources.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Mar 24, 2026
Creative GenNew evidence: What to know about the Sora discontinuation
Evidence AddedView practice →Mar 24, 2026
Creative GenPractice documented: OpenAI offered Sora, an AI video generation tool that produced short video clips from text prompts or uploaded images, to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers starting December 2024; the product was discontinued in a phased shutdown, with the app and web closing on April 26, 2026 and the API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026, with reporting pointing to high compute costs and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. A three-year licensing deal signed in December 2025 with The Walt Disney Company, under which Disney had committed a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, lapsed when the product shut down before the partnership terms were executed.
Practice DocumentedView practice →Mar 28, 2026
Creative GenNew evidence: OpenAI sets two-stage Sora shutdown with app closing April 2026 and API following in September
Evidence AddedView practice →Jun 16, 2026
OtherNew evidence: OpenAI Readies Deployment of ChatGPT for 3 Million Pentagon Personnel
Evidence AddedView practice →Jun 19, 2026
Creative GenNew evidence: What Happened to Sora? Why OpenAI Shut It Down (2026)
Evidence AddedView practice →Recent activity
OpenAI discontinued Sora, a video generation tool that let users type a text prompt or upload an image to produce a short video clip. It launched in December 2024 for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, excluding the UK, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area. A second generation, Sora 2, added synchronized audio and improved physics before the product was shut down in April 2026.
The original Sora generated videos up to 20 seconds long at up to 1080p resolution in widescreen, vertical, or square formats, with 1080p and 20-second clips limited to Pro subscribers. Sora 2, released September 30, 2025, added improved physics accuracy, synchronized dialogue and sound effects, and a Cameo feature that let users insert themselves into generated scenes. On December 11, 2025, Disney announced a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and a three-year licensing agreement that allowed Sora 2 users to generate videos featuring over 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars properties. OpenAI discontinued the Sora web and app experiences on April 26, 2026, with the Sora API scheduled to be discontinued on September 24, 2026.
OpenAI deployed ChatGPT for US government and defense use through its OpenAI for Government platform, including a $200 million Pentagon contract and deployment on the DoD's GenAI.mil platform for approximately 3 million personnel.
OpenAI launched OpenAI for Government in June 2025 alongside a $200 million contract with the Pentagon's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to prototype frontier AI for defense administrative operations. In February 2026, OpenAI reached an agreement to deploy its models on classified Department of Defense networks with stated safety guardrails. ChatGPT was subsequently deployed on GenAI.mil, the Pentagon's enterprise AI platform, for approximately 3 million military and civilian personnel. Use cases include summarizing policy documents, drafting procurement materials, and supporting cyber defense.
OpenAI offered Sora, an AI video generation tool that produced short video clips from text prompts or uploaded images, to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers starting December 2024; the product was discontinued in a phased shutdown, with the app and web closing on April 26, 2026 and the API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026, with reporting pointing to high compute costs and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. A three-year licensing deal signed in December 2025 with The Walt Disney Company, under which Disney had committed a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, lapsed when the product shut down before the partnership terms were executed.
Sora launched in December 2024 as a text-to-video tool available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers in the US and Canada, offering video generation at resolutions up to 1080p and up to 20 seconds in length. Sora 2 was released to select users in the US and Canada in late September 2025, adding synchronized audio and social sharing features in a standalone iOS and Android app. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026; the app and web experience at sora.com closed on April 26, 2026, with the Sora API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026, per OpenAI's Help Center. OpenAI did not give an official public reason in its announcement; reporting from multiple outlets linked the decision to high compute costs, declining user numbers, and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. In December 2025, Disney and OpenAI announced a three-year licensing agreement under which Disney would make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and allow Sora users to generate videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters; reporting indicated the investment had not been finalized before the shutdown, causing the agreement to lapse.
All practices by category
OpenAI offered Sora, an AI video generation tool that produced short video clips from text prompts or uploaded images, to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers starting December 2024; the product was discontinued in a phased shutdown, with the app and web closing on April 26, 2026 and the API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026, with reporting pointing to high compute costs and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. A three-year licensing deal signed in December 2025 with The Walt Disney Company, under which Disney had committed a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, lapsed when the product shut down before the partnership terms were executed.
OpenAI tested Jukebox, an AI model capable of generating music with lyrics in various styles, released as open-source research code in 2020; no commercial product exists.
OpenAI offers AI writing assistance through ChatGPT, allowing users across all subscription tiers to generate, edit, and improve text content using GPT-4o and GPT-5 series models.
OpenAI offers AI voice synthesis in ChatGPT and via its API, enabling spoken conversations with AI and converting written text to natural-sounding speech.
OpenAI discontinued Sora, a video generation tool that let users type a text prompt or upload an image to produce a short video clip. It launched in December 2024 for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, excluding the UK, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area. A second generation, Sora 2, added synchronized audio and improved physics before the product was shut down in April 2026.
OpenAI offers AI image generation in ChatGPT and via its API, allowing users to create and edit images from text descriptions using the DALL-E and GPT Image (gpt-image-1) models.
OpenAI offers an enterprise AI platform — including the OpenAI API, AgentKit, Agents SDK, and ChatGPT Enterprise — that businesses use to build and deploy custom AI-powered applications and workflows.
OpenAI offers integrations that connect ChatGPT to external tools and business applications, allowing users to automate tasks across services like Google Drive, Slack, and others directly inside ChatGPT.
OpenAI offers a tool that lets users and developers build custom AI assistants — called GPTs — tailored for specific tasks, available to paid ChatGPT subscribers through the GPT Store.
OpenAI offers Whisper, an AI model that automatically transcribes spoken audio into text, available via the OpenAI API and used within ChatGPT's voice features.
OpenAI offers agentic AI tools — including Operator and ChatGPT Agent — that can browse the web, fill out forms, and execute multi-step tasks on a user's behalf.
OpenAI offers AI-powered coding assistance through its Codex model, integrated into GitHub Copilot and available via the OpenAI API and ChatGPT, helping developers write, complete, and debug code.
OpenAI deployed ChatGPT for US government and defense use through its OpenAI for Government platform, including a $200 million Pentagon contract and deployment on the DoD's GenAI.mil platform for approximately 3 million personnel.
OpenAI announced a collaboration agreement with Figure AI, a humanoid robotics company, through its startup fund in February 2024, supporting the integration of OpenAI's AI models into physical robots.
OpenAI offers AI tools for healthcare organizations through ChatGPT for Healthcare, enabling clinical documentation, patient communication drafting, and care decision support for health systems.
OpenAI offers a Deep Research feature in ChatGPT that autonomously browses the web and synthesizes multi-source reports on complex topics, available to paid subscribers.
OpenAI offers ChatGPT Search, a feature that gives all ChatGPT users the ability to retrieve up-to-date information from the web during conversations, launched in October 2024.
OpenAI uses AI-assisted analysis to detect and disrupt malicious uses of its platform, including coordinated influence operations, cyberattacks, and other misuse by state and non-state actors.
OpenAI uses internal and external AI safety evaluations — including red-teaming — to test its models for dangerous capabilities before and after deployment.
OpenAI uses automated safety filters on all image generation requests and outputs to detect and block content that violates its safety policies, including explicit sexual content and harmful depictions.
OpenAI uses automated systems to enforce its usage policies across all its products, detecting and blocking requests that violate its guidelines before or after model output is produced.
OpenAI offers a Moderation API that automatically classifies text and images for potentially harmful content, available to all API users and used internally across OpenAI products.
OpenAI deployed contextual ads in ChatGPT starting February 9, 2026, showing sponsored content to free-tier users based on the topics of their current conversation.
OpenAI offers a shopping research feature in ChatGPT that generates personalized product recommendations and buyer's guides based on user needs and preferences, launched in November 2025.
OpenAI uses a memory system in ChatGPT that stores facts about users across conversations to personalize future responses, available to all ChatGPT users globally.
OpenAI offers an automated support experience in its own Help Center, where users seeking assistance with ChatGPT and API products are initially directed to AI-generated self-service resources.
OpenAI offers its API and ChatGPT Enterprise to businesses that deploy AI-powered customer service assistants, enabling companies like Klarna, Maven AGI, and Decagon to automate customer interactions.
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