OpenAI hinted this week that it would soon begin charging for ChatGPT, a viral AI-powered chatbot that can create essays, emails, poems, and even computer code.In an announcement on the company’s official Discord server, OpenAI said it was “starting to think about how to monetize ChatGPT,” adding that it would “definitely [the tool’s] Long-term viability. “
The monetized version of ChatGPT appears to be called ChatGPT Professional. This, according to OpenAI’s waiting list link posted on the Discord server, asks various questions about payment settings, such as “What is the price (per month) that ChatGPT considers too expensive to consider buying?” To do.
The waiting list also mentions the benefits of ChatGPT Professional. This includes no “blackout” (i.e. unavailable) periods, no throttling, and an unlimited number of messages using ChatGPT. “At least twice the normal daily limit.” According to OpenAI, those who fill out the waiting list form may be selected to pilot ChatGPT Professional, but the program is in an experimental phase and will not be widely available “at this time.”
Image credit: Open AI
Despite the controversy and some bans, ChatGPT has proven to be an effective propaganda for OpenAI, garnering major media attention and spawning countless memes on social media. Some investors have implemented his ChatGPT in their workflow. Ryan Reynolds worked with ChatGPT to create an ad for his Mint Mobile, the mobile career he partly owns. Microsoft will reportedly incorporate the AI behind ChatGPT into its Office suite and Bing.
ChatGPT had an enviable user base with over 1 million users as of early December. But it’s an expensive service to run. According to Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, ChatGPT’s operational costs are “impressive”, amounting to a few cents per chat of total computational cost. (ChatGPT is hosted in Microsoft’s Azure cloud.)
OpenAI is under pressure to turn a profit on products like ChatGPT ahead of a rumored $10 billion investment from Microsoft. OpenAI expects him to earn $200 million in 2023. This is paltry compared to the more than $1 billion he has invested in startups so far.
Semafor reported this week that Microsoft is about to acquire a 49% stake in OpenAI, valuing the company at around $29 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will receive three-quarters of OpenAI’s profits until it recovers its investment, with an additional investor taking his 49% stake, with OpenAI holding the remaining 2% stake.
OpenAI has an unusual corporate structure that operates under a “capped profit” model that limits the return of backers to 100 times their investment.
