According to a report from The New York Times, OpenAI is planning on gradually increasing the price of ChatGPT+ over the course of the next five years. This information was obtained from internal documents that are being circulated to potential investors.
ChatGPT+ pricing
Right now, ChatGPT Plus is available for $20/month. The subscription gives you access to higher end models, reduces limitations, and provides access to DALL-E, their image generation tool. However, this will be changing soon.
ChatGPT Plus will become $22/month by the end of the year, according to the documents. Additionally, the price will increase over the course of the next five years, eventually becoming $44/month. OpenAI currently has 10 million ChatGPT Plus subscribers.
Apple is expected to be adding support for ChatGPT within Siri in iOS 18.2. While the features won’t require an OpenAI account or a ChatGPT Plus subscription, you will be able to sign in for additional capabilities natively in iOS.
OpenAI valuation
As stated earlier, this information comes from documents being sent to investors. OpenAI is currently trying to raise up to $7 billion, valuing the company at $150 billion. Apple was initially rumored to be participating in this funding round, but they have allegedly left the discussions.
This $150 billion valuation is a massive leap from just a year ago, where they were only valued at $30 billion, right around when Microsoft started investing in them.
OpenAI revenue
OpenAI’s monthly revenue was $300 million as of August, and the company expects to bring in $3.7 billion in revenue this year. However, despite that, OpenAI is still planning to lose $5 billion this year after paying for all of their expenses. Building AI is expensive, and OpenAI will likely continue to raise money to keep their ventures going.
Among their 3.7 billion in annual revenue, 2.7 billion comes from ChatGPT subscriptions, with the other 1 billion coming from tech companies that utilize their APIs to implement AI features within their products.
OpenAI also expects their revenue to triple next year, anticipating $11.6 billion. It’s unclear how they plan to accomplish this. By 2029, which is when ChatGPT+ will reach its $44/month price point, they expect their revenue to reach $100 billion.
Sam Altman equity
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is also expected to receive equity in OpenAI for the first time, gaining 7% of the company. His stake would be worth $10.5 billion if the reports are accurate. Sam gaining an equity stake comes after loads of OpenAI drama.
Last November, he was fired by the board for not being candid in his communications. Afterwards, loads of OpenAI employees protested in support of him, and he was eventually rehired after some board reshuffling. However, that wasn’t the end of that. Over the last 9 months or so, tons of senior employees have left OpenAI, including CTO Mira Murati, Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, and others.
It’s unclear what the future of OpenAI will look like, but these recent departures don’t paint the brightest picture.
Do you utilize ChatGPT enough to justify paying $44/month in a few years? Do you pay for ChatGPT Plus currently? Let us know in the comments.
Follow Michael: X/Twitter, Threads, Instagram
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
