OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus service has reached a milestone of 10 million monthly paid subscribers. The New York Times reports that OpenAI intends to gradually raise the rental price of ChatGPT Plus over the next five years. Currently priced at 20 USD/month, the subscription offers access to advanced AI models, increased usage limits, and the DALL-image creation tool.
An internal document shared with investors reveals OpenAI’s plan to raise the price of ChatGPT Plus to 22 USD/month by the end of this year, with further increases to reach 44 USD/month by 2029. Apple is set to integrate ChatGPT support into Siri with the iOS 18.2 update, providing expanded capabilities upon login, although a paid subscription or OpenAI account won’t be mandatory.
Concurrently, OpenAI aims to raise $7 billion, potentially increasing the company’s value to $150 billion. Despite reaching a monthly revenue of 300 million USD as of August 2024 and an expected total revenue of 3.7 billion USD this year, OpenAI anticipates a loss of approximately $5 billion due to the costs of AI development. Consequently, the company plans to continue raising capital to sustain its operations.
Of the projected revenue, 2.7 billion USD is expected to come from ChatGPT subscriptions, with the remainder generated from providing APIs for technology companies to use in OpenAI products. OpenAI foresees its revenue tripling to $11.6 billion by 2025 and reaching an impressive $100 billion/year by 2029, coinciding with the anticipated pricing for ChatGPT Plus.
In addition, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is poised to receive shares for the first time, amounting to 7%, and valued at approximately 10.5 billion USD if projections hold. Altman’s reinstatement came after being dismissed by the board of directors in November 2023, following concerns about communication transparency. Despite this, numerous senior OpenAI employees have departed in the past 9 months, including the chief technology officer and the chief scientific officer.
These developments have raised concerns about the future of the startup. However, with robust financial plans and development strategies, OpenAI remains a prominent figure in the artificial intelligence technology industry.
