OpenAI released new data Friday showing people are using the consumer version of ChatGPT for more personal tasks and fewer work tasks.

Why it matters: That shift toward personal use could bolster OpenAI's emerging ad business, even as it keeps pursuing lucrative business customers.

State of play: OpenAI's usage data shows a steady decline in the amount of work-related messaging happening on consumer ChatGPT from July 2024 through December 2025.

• The data comes from 100,000 "de-identified" conversations on free and paid consumer accounts, meaning OpenAI researchers looked at anonymized messages to understand broad themes.

Friction point: Since ChatGPT's launch, evangelists who used free and paid consumer accounts for work tasks often convinced their companies to pay for the pricier enterprise accounts.

• Enterprise subscriptions are key to long-term revenue growth. If ChatGPT is being used as a buddy rather than a coworker, that could cut off a crucial pipeline.

Yes, but: Personal use can be ad gold, as evidenced by the success of every major social media platform.

• OpenAI is currently testing ads, while rival Anthropic has promised to remain ad-free.

The bottom line: More personal use could be good for business.