Prepare for $2,000 ChatGPT Subscriptions

ChatGPT fans may be in for a rude awakening, with OpenAI reportedly investigating subscription options that could be as high as $2,000....
Prepare for $2,000 ChatGPT Subscriptions
Written by Matt Milano
  • ChatGPT fans may be in for a rude awakening, with OpenAI reportedly investigating subscription options that could be as high as $2,000.

    According to Financial Times, OpenAI executives are trying to find the subscription sweet spot, one where the company can make money off of its AI models, yet still drive subscriber growth with a price point customers will accept. Unfortunately, FT reports that $2,000 subscription fees are being discussed, although nothing has been decided.

    OpenAI’s subscription dilemma is indicative of the challenges the AI industry is facing in general. Financial firms and investors have increasingly been sounding the alarm over the high price tag that comes with generative AI development.

    In fact, the high cost has been cited as one of the reasons AI could be the tech industry’s latest bubble, rather than a transformative tech that’s here to stay. Jim Covello, Goldman Sachs Head of Global Equity Research, compared AI to earlier tech revolutions, saying its high cost limits its ability to have the same impact.

    Many people attempt to compare AI today to the early days of the internet. But even in its infancy, the internet was a low-cost technology solution that enabled e-commerce to replace costly incumbent solutions. Amazon could sell books at a lower cost than Barnes & Noble because it didn’t have to maintain costly brick-and-mortar locations. Fast forward three decades, and Web 2.0 is still providing cheaper solutions that are disrupting more expensive solutions, such as Uber displacing limousine services. While the question of whether AI technology will ever deliver on the promise many people are excited about today is certainly debatable, the less debatable point is that AI technology is exceptionally expensive, and to justify those costs, the technology must be able to solve complex problems, which it isn’t designed to do.

    While it’s hard to imagine that OpenAI will go with a $2,000 subscription, the fact that it is even discussing such a high price underscores the growing pressure OpenAI—and the AI industry in general—is under to start recouping the massive investments that have been made.

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit