Category: ai

ChatGPT,
the
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
chatbot
by
OpenAI
is
reportedly
about
to
get
more
expensive
for
paid
subscribers.
According
to
a
new
report,
the
AI
firm
is
planning
to
increase
the
subscription
price
for
ChatGPT
Plus
users
by
$2
(roughly
Rs.
167)
a
month.
The
price
hike
is
not
expected
to
stop
there
either,
as
the
company
is
said
to
push
the
monthly
subscription
cost
to
$44
(roughly
Rs.
3,685)
in
the
next
five
years.
The
reason
behind
pushing
for
a
higher
ticket
price
is
said
to
be
OpenAI’s
revenue
ambitions
and
expensive
cost
of
running
operations.

ChatGPT
Subscriptions
to
Reportedly
Get
More
Expensive

According
to
The
New
York
Times,
the
AI
firm
is
planning
to
increase
the
subscription
price
by
$2
by
the
end
of
2024.
Citing
financial
documents
viewed
by
the
publication,
the
report
further
added
that
the
final
price
of
the
ChatGPT
Plus
subscription
might
stand
at
$44
a
month
by
the
end
of
2029,
a
steep
climb
from
the
current
$20
a
month
in
the
US
or
Rs.
1,950
a
month
in
India.

With
the
price
hike,
the
company
reportedly
wants
to
secure
a
revenue
of
$100
billion
(roughly
Rs.
8.3
lakh
crore)
in
2029,
a
majority
of
which
is
expected
to
come
from
its
subscription-based
services.
If
the
AI
firm
is
able
to
achieve
this
target,
it
would
be
raking
in
annual
revenue
similar
to
Reliance
Industries,
Nestlé,
or
Comcast.

OpenAI
currently
has
approximately
10
million
ChatGPT
Plus
users,
according
to
the
report.

The
documents
reviewed
by
the
publication
that
was
meant
for
the
investors
and
OpenAI
reportedly
highlighted
that
it
is
currently
making
“billions”
from
ChatGPT,
and
expects
to
boost
the
numbers
significantly
in
the
coming
years.
Notably,
the
company
is
in
the
process
of
closing
a
funding
round.

Despite
the
big
numbers
projected
in
its
revenue
estimation,
the
company
is
reportedly
struggling
with
optimising
its
operational
costs.
OpenAI
is
said
to
lose
approximately
$5
billion
(roughly
Rs.
41.8
thousand
crore)
this
year,
most
of
which
goes
towards
its
AI-powered
services.
Other
significant
cost-centres
include
employee
salaries
and
office
rent.

Another
major
source
of
expense
is
reportedly
cloud
computing
for
which
the
company
uses
Microsoft’s
services.
Despite
getting
$13
billion
(roughly
Rs.
1.08
lakh
crore)
yearly
due
to
the
partnership,
the
AI
firm
spends
much
of
that
money
on
running
cloud
processing.

Thrive
Capital
is
investing
more
than
$1
billion
of

OpenAI’s
current
$6.5
billion
fundraising
round,
and
it
has
a
sweetener
no
other
investors
are
getting:
the
potential
to
invest
another
$1
billion
next
year
at
the
same
valuation
if
the
AI
firm
hits
a
revenue
goal,
people
familiar
with
the
matter
said
on
Friday.

OpenAI
is
predicting
its
revenue
will
skyrocket
to
$11.6
billion
next
year
from
an
estimated
$3.7
billion
in
2024,
the
sources
said,
speaking
on
condition
of
anonymity.
Losses
are
expected
to
be
as
much
as
$5
billion
this
year,
depending
largely
on
their
spending
for
computing
power
that
could
change,
one
of
the
sources
added.

The
current
funding
round,
which
comes
in
the
form
of
convertible
debt,
is
expected
to
close
by
the
end
of
next
week
and
could
value
OpenAI
at
$150
billion,
cementing
its
status
as
one
of
the
most
valuable
private
companies
in
the
world.

That
valuation
depends
on
pulling
off
a
complicated
restructuring
to
remove
the
control
of
its
non-profit
board
and
also
remove
cap
on
investment
return
to
investors,
a
plan
first
reported
by
Reuters.
There
is
no
specific
timeline
when
the
conversion
could
be
completed.

Thrive
Capital,
which
also
led
OpenAI’s
previous
funding
round,
is
offering
$1.2
billion
from
a
combination
of
its
own
fund
and
a
special
purpose
vehicle
for
smaller
investors.
Other
investors
on
the
new
round
include

Microsoft,

Apple,

Nvidia
and
Khosla
Ventures.

The
others
were
not
given
the
option
for
future
investment
at
current
price,
sources
said.
OpenAI’s
valuation
has
soared
quickly,
and
if
it
continues
to
do
so,
Thrive
could
find
itself
increasing
its
stake
next
year
at
a
discounted
price.

Reuters
was
not
able
to
determine
the
revenue
target
associated
with
the
option
for
Thrive,
which
was
founded
by
Joshua
Kushner.

Thrive
and
OpenAI
declined
to
comment.

OpenAI’s
revenue
expectations
far
exceed
CEO
Sam
Altman’s
earlier
projection
of
$1
billion
in
revenue
this
year.
The
main
revenue
sources
are
sales
of
its
services
to
corporations
and
subscriptions
to
its
chatbot.

Its
flagship
product,

ChatGPT,
is
expected
to
bring
in
$2.7
billion
in
revenue
this
year,
jumping
from
$700
million
in
2023.
The
chatbot
service,
which
charges
a
$20
fee
every
month,
has
about
10
million
paying
users.

The
financials
and
details
about
Thrive’s
additional
option
were
first
reported
by
the
New
York
Times
on
Friday.

©
Thomson
Reuters
2024

(This
story
has
not
been
edited
by
NDTV
staff
and
is
auto-generated
from
a
syndicated
feed.)