(Reuters) - OpenAI will start allowing users to access its free-to-use ChatGPT generative AI chatbot without needing to sign up for the service beginning Monday, the Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed startup said on Monday.

ChatGPT, which kickstarted the GenAI boom in late 2022, can mimic human conversation and perform tasks such as creating summaries of long text, writing poems and even generating ideas for a theme party.

The San Francisco-based company said that it will gradually roll out the feature to "make AI accessible to anyone curious about its capabilities."

The popular service, which set a record for the fastest-growing user base, has seen its growth slow down since May 2023, when its traffic peaked at 1.8 billion web visits, according to data analytics firm Similarweb.

OpenAI said it has introduced additional content safeguards for users accessing ChatGPT without signing up, such as blocking prompts and generations in a wider range of categories. It did not specify these categories.

Apart from the free version of ChatGPT, which does not have direct access to the internet, OpenAI also offers paid versions for individuals, team users and enterprises.

The company also said that it may use content provided by users to help improve its large-language models but said users can turn off the feature.

The move comes about a month after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, saying they abandoned the startup's original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity and not for profit.