ChatGPT has become one of the quickest-growing AI chatbots, with millions of active users using it for everything from college papers to writing malicious code. However, its parent company OpenAI is bleeding money (probably in the millions each month) to keep the chatbot online. In addition to raising capital, the company is now piloting a paid version of ChatGPT and has opened a waitlist for access.
Anyone can sign up for the “professional ChatGPT access”, which will feature no throttling resulting in faster responses and at least two times the daily limit of messages with no blackout windows. OpenAI will reach out to those selected, and a payment method will be set up for the pilot.
“This is an early experimental program that is subject to change, and we are not making paid pro access generally available at this time,” said OpenAI.
The waitlist form includes questions asking people for their feedback on how they use ChatGPT and how much they’re willing to pay to use the service.
OpenAI shared the waitlist access in a message on Discord stating, “We’re starting to think about how to monetise ChatGPT. Our goal is to continue improving and maintaining the service, and monetization is one way we’re considering to ensure its long-term viability”.
While several companies are working on chatbots, ChatGPT has been in the spotlight mostly due to the parent company’s decision to keep it free. OpenAI has also monetised its image generator, Dall-E and shouldn’t have much trouble doing the same with ChatGPT — and why not when clone apps are doing that already. However, ChatGPT isn’t exactly accurate, and CEO Sam Altman will tell you just that.
Last month, OpenAI founder Sam Altman tweeted, “ChatGPT is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness. It’s a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now. it’s a preview of progress; we have lots of work to do on robustness and truthfulness”.
But while Altman might be trying not to mislead people, companies are betting big on OpenAI’s potential as they’re in talks to raise $10 billion from Microsoft, who is reportedly also experimenting with integration between ChatGPT and Bing.
(H/T: TechCrunch)
In the News: Dark Pink APT is targeting governments and armed forces in APAC
