Claude's October web traffic grew 23.78%, outpacing ChatGPT and Gemini

Claude grows fastest, but stays smaller

As iFanr reported in its morning brief, Claude's website traffic rose 23.78% in October compared with September. Similarweb, a firm that tracks web traffic, put ChatGPT's growth for the same period at 2.15%. Gemini slipped by 0.15%.

The brief also says Claude's site hit a record of roughly 12.53 亿 visits in the month (亿 means hundred million). That moved it up to 25th place among the world's most visited websites. Similarweb's count covers desktop and mobile web visits worldwide.

Look closely at what the number means. It is a growth rate, not total traffic. According to the same data, ChatGPT and Gemini still draw more visits than Claude, so this is a smaller service speeding up, not a changing of the guard.

It also counts only web visits. People who use apps, or who reach these assistants through other products, do not show up in a website tally. Treat it as one signal of attention rather than a verdict on which assistant is best.

Doubao Work lets you choose the model

Doubao Work, a workplace AI product, announced on Nov. 12 that it now connects to several third-party models. The new additions include Kimi K3.1 Pro, GLM 5.3 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. The platform had already opened third-party models to business customers, so this widens the choice for individual users.

The most practical detail is the model picker. Each model is labeled with a quota multiplier, which shows how fast it uses up your allowance. You can switch between Doubao's own models and outside ones in the same screen and compare the relative cost of the same task.

Some models, including Doubao 2.1 Lite and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, currently have temporarily lower multipliers. Doubao also plans quota discounts at set times on workdays and holidays for models in its promotions. New users who log in on the desktop version can claim a 30-day subscription for free.

The idea is simple: a cheaper model for routine work, a stronger one for hard problems. Before relying on it, though, ask where your data goes when the tool calls a model built by another company. The brief does not cover that.

Tencent denies the layoff rumor

Jiemian News reported on Nov. 12 that people close to Tencent say a rumor of a 50% layoff is untrue. The denial comes from unnamed sources, so it is not proof, but it comes with a specific explanation of how the rumor may have started.

On an internal livestream for the company's 28th anniversary, management spoke about speeding up its reorganization around AI. It used an 'army and navy' comparison. About half of staff would keep running the existing core business and make it more efficient, while the other half would explore new businesses built around AI from the start.

The sources think outsiders may have misread that half-and-half split as a cut. Management also reportedly wants front-line staff to propose new business ideas and wants to flatten layers of middle management so teams can respond faster.

So the story is a reshuffle of where people work, not a headcount cut, at least by this account.

The Nvidia item and the WeChat test

The brief's headline notes that Jensen Huang remains Nvidia's largest individual shareholder. The context is bigger than the headline suggests. Nvidia announced that Huang resigned as president, CEO and director, effective immediately, ending a leadership run that began when he helped found the company in 1993.

Chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim CEO, and longtime director Harvey Jones becomes the first chair of the board. Per Reuters, Huang still holds about 3.61% of the shares, making him the fourth-largest shareholder overall and the largest individual one. Nvidia says its operations, customer commitments and product plans will continue as planned.

The brief also covers WeChat's 'Look' feature, which is testing an entry point for short dramas. Citing the outlet Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, it says users can find dramas they recently watched. The test is small in scale, and the sources say it aims to help users find content and give creators more exposure.