Usage-based payment: OpenAI rethinks subscription models for ChatGPT
OpenAI is looking into more flexible pricing models – depending on usage. Sam Altman says that 1000 US dollars for one month is possible.
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The prices for ChatGPT were not previously based on solid calculations or research. Sam Altman says in an interview that OpenAI is now considering introducing usage-based pricing in the future. He believes it is possible that people will sometimes want to pay 1000 US dollars a month for the computing power they need, but significantly less in other months. This is not the first loose announcement that the services could become more expensive, at least in parts.
It is already known that the current subscriptions are not financially sufficient. Altman recently said that the people who pay the 200 US dollar Pro subscription use the services so much that OpenAI is still making a loss even with these customers. There is also the Plus model, which costs 20 US dollars, and the free version.
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In the interview with Bloomberg, Altman says that a paid version had to be introduced back in 2022 due to the high usage. At that time, prices of 20 and 42 US dollars were tried out. The higher price was too high for people. However, there was no proper investigation into this.
ChatGPT as the AOL of modern times
Altman compares the usage-based model with early access to the Internet. "I'm old enough to remember a time when we had dial-up Internet and you could buy ten hours a month on AOL – or five hours a month or whatever package you had. And I hated that. I hated having to keep track of time all the time, so I don't really want that kind of vibe." However, there would be people who see it differently.
The current o-models from OpenAI require even more computer power than the previous models in order to produce better results. This results in correspondingly higher costs. OpenAI has to react if it wants to offer the models and earn money with them. Ultimately, this is also necessary to keep investors on board. OpenAI is working on transforming its own corporate structure into a profit-oriented company. This should enable investors to get more money back. Money that OpenAI has to earn first.
(emw)
