OpenAI Launches Pilot Application of ChatGPT Professional

OpenAI signaled this week that it will soon start charging for ChatGPT, its AI-powered viral chatbot that can write articles, emails, poems and even computer code. In an announcement on the company's official Discord server, OpenAI said it has "started thinking about how to monetize ChatGPT" as one of the ways to "ensure [the tool's] long-term viability."

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"At what price would you find ChatGPT (monthly) too expensive to consider buying?"

This is according to the OpenAI waitlist link posted on the Discord server, which asks a series of questions about payment preferences, such as "At what price would you find ChatGPT (monthly) too expensive to consider buying?".

The waitlist also outlines the advantages of ChatGPT Professional, including "blackout" (i.e. unavailability) windows, no restrictions and an unlimited number of messages with ChatGPT "at least 2x the normal daily limit". OpenAI says that those who fill out the waiting list form can be selected for the ChatGPT Professional pilot, but that the program is in the experimental phase and will not be made widely available "at this time".

Despite controversy and several bans, ChatGPT proved to be a publicity gain for OpenAI. It has attracted a lot of media attention. Some investors are implementing ChatGPT in their workflows. Ryan Reynolds applied ChatGPT for Mint Mobile, the mobile operator he partly owns. And Microsoft will reportedly incorporate the AI behind ChatGPT into its Office suite and Bing, as we've heard.

It is hosted on Microsoft's Azure cloud

As of early December, ChatGPT had more than one million users. An enviable user base by any measure. But it is an expensive service to run. According to Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, ChatGPT's operating costs are "eye-watering," amounting to a few cents per chat out of the total cost of operations. (ChatGPT is hosted on 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 to earn $200 million in 2023. This is a pittance compared to the more than $1 billion invested in the startup so far. Semafor reported this week that Microsoft wants to acquire a 49 percent stake in OpenAI, worth about $29 billion. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will receive three-quarters of OpenAI's profits until it recovers its investment. Additional investors will receive 49 percent and OpenAI will keep the remaining 2 percent in equity.

OpenAI appears to have an unusual corporate structure, operating under a "capped profit" model that limits backers' returns to 100 times their investment, or possibly less in the future.