OpenAI Shatters Records: ChatGPT Hits 800M Weekly Users as Altman Eyes $100 Billion War Chest

February 10, 2026 – In a revelation that has sent shockwaves through the technology sector and global financial markets, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Monday that ChatGPT has surpassed 800 million weekly active users (WAU). The announcement, made during an exclusive interview with CNBC, comes as the artificial intelligence giant reportedly finalizes negotiations for a historic $100 billion funding round—an investment magnitude previously unseen in the venture capital landscape.

This development marks a pivotal moment in the "Intelligence Age," signaling that Generative AI has successfully transitioned from a novelty tool to a ubiquitous utility comparable to the internet search engine or the smartphone. For industry observers at Creati.ai, this underscores a dramatic acceleration in AI adoption and the capital-intensive nature of the next frontier in model training.

Unprecedented Velocity: The 10% Monthly Surge

During his appearance on CNBC, Sam Altman provided granular insights into the platform's meteoric rise. Contrary to analyst predictions of a plateau in consumer AI adoption, ChatGPT is currently experiencing a month-over-month growth rate exceeding 10%. This sustained velocity is particularly staggering given the massive base from which the platform is growing.

"We are seeing a fundamental shift in how humanity interacts with information," Altman stated. "The 10% monthly growth isn't just new users signing up; it represents a deepening of engagement across enterprise, education, and creative sectors. We have crossed the threshold of 800 million weekly users not by aggressive marketing, but by delivering utility that solves complex problems."

To put this into perspective, reaching 800 million weekly users places ChatGPT in the rarefied air of platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp, yet it has achieved this scale in a fraction of the time. The growth is reportedly driven by the release of OpenAI's latest multimodal capabilities, which have seamlessly integrated real-time video reasoning and advanced agentic workflows.

The $100 Billion Funding Round: Building the "Stargate"

Perhaps even more significant than the user metrics is the confirmation that OpenAI is pursuing a funding round targeted at $100 billion. This figure, which dwarfs the total annual GDP of many nations, is not merely for operational expenses but is earmarked for critical infrastructure.

Industry insiders speculate that this capital injection is directly linked to the massive compute requirements for OpenAI's next-generation models and the rumored "Stargate" supercomputer project—a joint initiative likely involving Microsoft and potentially sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East.

Breakdown of Potential Capital Allocation:

This funding round, if successful, would fundamentally alter the economics of the tech industry, raising the barrier to entry so high that only state-backed entities or trillion-dollar market cap companies could compete at the frontier level.

Comparative Analysis: OpenAI vs. The Field

The scale of OpenAI's current trajectory can be best understood when compared to its historical performance and its nearest competitors. The leap from 2024/2025 metrics to the current 2026 figures illustrates an exponential curve that defies traditional software scaling laws.

Table: OpenAI Growth Trajectory (2024-2026)

This data suggests that OpenAI has successfully navigated the "trough of disillusionment" and is now firmly in the "slope of enlightenment," where enterprise utility matches consumer enthusiasm. The 10% monthly growth implies that by the end of 2026, ChatGPT could theoretically surpass 1.5 billion weekly users, effectively becoming the operating system of the digital economy.

The Hardware Bottleneck and Energy Imperative

Creati.ai analysis suggests that the drive for $100 billion is born out of necessity rather than ambition alone. As models scale, the demand for compute power grows logarithmically. Altman has frequently cited energy and compute as the two limiting factors for AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).

"The models we are building today are constrained not by our algorithms, but by the physical infrastructure of the planet," Altman noted in the interview. "To get to the next level of reasoning, to cure diseases, to solve climate change, we need compute clusters that are 100 times larger than what exists today."

This funding is likely a defensive moat. By securing $100 billion, OpenAI effectively corners the market on advanced GPUs and energy contracts, potentially starving competitors like Anthropic or xAI of the necessary resources to keep pace, unless they too can secure similar sovereign-level investment.

Market Reactions and Future Outlook

The announcement has triggered a rally in semiconductor stocks and renewable energy firms, with the market pricing in the massive demand OpenAI's expansion will generate. However, it also raises significant antitrust concerns. Regulators in the EU and the US are likely to scrutinize a $100 billion concentration of capital, fearing it could lead to an unassailable monopoly in general-purpose artificial intelligence.

For the creative and developer communities—Creati.ai's core audience—this news signals a dual reality. On one hand, the tools available for creation, coding, and design will become exponentially more powerful. On the other, the centralization of AI development into a single, heavily funded entity raises questions about open source viability and access equality.

As we move further into 2026, the question is no longer whether AI will change the world, but rather who will own the infrastructure that powers that change. With 800 million users and a potential $100 billion war chest, OpenAI is making a definitive claim to that throne.

Creati.ai will continue to monitor this developing story, specifically tracking the confirmation of the funding partners and the release schedules for the infrastructure capabilities this capital will unlock.