Back to tool: ChatGPT usage surges to 78B tokens as students return to class

OpenRouter data reveals that ChatGPT usage surged to a record 78.3 billion tokens on September 18, 2025, as schools reopened across the West following summer holidays. The dramatic seasonal pattern confirms that students drive a substantial portion of daily ChatGPT traffic, with usage dropping to just 36.7 billion tokens during June’s summer break compared to nearly 80 billion tokens per day during May’s exam period.

The big picture: Academic calendars are directly shaping AI adoption patterns, with OpenRouter’s 2.5 million user dataset showing consistent drops during school breaks and sharp recoveries when classes resume.

Key usage patterns: The seasonal fluctuations reveal how deeply integrated AI tools have become in educational settings.

• Token generation peaked at 78.3 billion on September 18, the highest since the summer slowdown began.
• June 2025 averaged just 36.7 billion tokens daily when schools let out for summer.
• May 2025 averaged nearly 80 billion tokens per day, coinciding with finals and exam periods.

In plain English: Tokens are the basic units AI systems use to process text—think of them as digital building blocks that represent words or parts of words. When students ask ChatGPT to help write an essay or solve a problem, each word in their question and the AI’s response gets converted into tokens for processing.

Model breakdown: ChatGPT variants dominated usage during the September surge across OpenRouter’s platform.

• ChatGPT 4.1 Mini led with 26.9 billion tokens on September 18.
• The newly launched GPT-5 generated 18.7 billion tokens on the same day.
• GPT-4o mini and GPT-5 Mini also contributed notable shares to the overall traffic.

Why this matters: The data confirms earlier research findings, including studies from Rutgers University that identified strong links between academic calendars and AI usage spikes, suggesting students rely heavily on ChatGPT for writing, information gathering, and study support.

What educators are saying: The trend reflects broader questions about AI’s role in education rather than whether students should use these tools.

• Teachers and researchers see value in students learning to work with AI systems responsibly.
• The debate centers on “how it can be guided, taught, and balanced in ways that support learning rather than replacing it.”
• Younger generations are naturally embracing AI as part of their daily academic routines.