ChatGPT’s expanding world of work

Why it matters

OpenAI has published OpenAI Signals data linking work-related ChatGPT messages to a standardized set of work activity categories, giving researchers a new lens on AI's role in the labor economy. The dataset covers individual-plan usage across nearly a hundred countries, organized by quarter from early 2025 through late 2026, and maps conversations to Intermediate Work Activities drawn from the O*NET occupational framework. That common structure lets analysts compare ChatGPT usage across countries, observe changes over time, and connect the patterns to employment and economic indicators. A central finding is that work-related usage became less concentrated in the most common activities over the period, suggesting countries increasingly specialized in distinct types of work brought to the tool. OpenAI notes the pattern could reflect differences in the work performed in each country or in access to AI tools, questions it hopes researchers will pursue. The release excludes enterprise messages and Codex use, and privacy protections include automated classification, aggregation, and statistical noise.