A boycott movement called "QuitGPT" is spreading across the United States, urging users to cancel their paid subscriptions to OpenAI's AI chatbot ChatGPT. The campaign emerged after reports that OpenAI executives donated substantial sums to political groups supporting President Donald Trump, coinciding with news that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is utilizing ChatGPT technology.
According to IT industry sources on the 19th (local time), posts featuring the hashtag "QuitGPT" and encouraging subscription cancellations or boycotts have proliferated across social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Bluesky. Campaign organizers claim more than 700,000 people have joined the boycott through their website and social media channels.
"We will continue this boycott until OpenAI executives declare they will stop donating to Trump, the Republican Party, and Big Tech super PACs," organizers stated. "We cannot allow them to help authoritarians."
The movement has expanded beyond simple subscription cancellations to promoting alternatives. Participants are encouraging users to switch to open-source AI models or competitors such as Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude. "Many ChatGPT users are young and progressive, but they often don't know alternatives exist," campaign participants noted.
Hollywood celebrities and academics have added their voices to the movement. Actor Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the Avengers film series, posted on his Instagram: "The president of ChatGPT is one of Trump's biggest donors and their technology is empowering ICE. It's time to boycott. QuitGPT." The post garnered over 40 million views and more than 2 million likes.
Scott Galloway, a New York University Stern School of Business professor known for criticizing Big Tech's influence, bestselling author Rutger Bregman ("Humankind"), and actor and digital producer Blayklee Thornton have also joined the campaign.
The QuitGPT movement could further pressure ChatGPT's already declining market share. According to market research firm Apptopia, ChatGPT's market share on U.S. mobile devices fell from 69.1% in January last year to 45.3% in January this year.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his spouse Anna Brockman reportedly donated $25 million each last year to MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting President Trump, and Leading the Future, a super PAC advocating for relaxed AI regulations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also disclosed that ICE uses GPT-4-based tools to review applicant resumes in its hiring process.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT continues to grow in South Korea. According to Mobile Index data from IGAWorks, ChatGPT recorded 14.3 million monthly active users domestically in January this year, up 3.3% from 13.84 million the previous month. Analysts say the platform maintains its dominant position in the Korean market.