OpenAI is exploring a paid version of ChatGPT as it looks for ways to support the chatbot’s long-term operation. Called ChatGPT Professional, the experimental offering would give selected users higher usage limits and more reliable access.
What ChatGPT Professional would offer
A waitlist shared through OpenAI’s official Discord server described several proposed benefits. Subscribers would avoid blackout periods when the service is unavailable, would not face throttling, and would be able to send an unlimited number of messages—“at least 2x the regular daily limit.”
The waitlist also asked people how much they might be willing to pay. One question asked, “At what price (per month) would you consider ChatGPT to be so expensive that you would not consider buying it?” That suggests OpenAI was gathering information about payment preferences, rather than announcing a settled price.
Filling out the form did not guarantee access. OpenAI said some respondents might be selected to take part in a pilot, while emphasizing that the program was still experimental and would not be made widely available “at this time.”
Why a paid tier was under consideration
ChatGPT had attracted substantial public attention, but serving its conversations came with significant computing costs. OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman described the operating expenses as “eye-watering,” with total compute costs amounting to a few cents per chat. The service was hosted in Microsoft’s Azure cloud.
A few cents for an individual conversation can add up when a chatbot serves a large audience. A paid option with higher limits could help OpenAI explore how to cover some of those expenses while letting frequent users access the service more consistently. The waitlist showed the company was considering that possibility; it did not establish whether the proposed plan would ultimately be offered at scale.
OpenAI had said ChatGPT had over a million users as of early December. The chatbot could write essays, emails, poems and computer code, giving people a range of reasons to try it. That reach also made the cost of running the service a central issue as the company considered monetization.
Attention brought opportunity and pressure
ChatGPT’s rise brought major media attention and social media memes, despite controversy and several bans. Investors were incorporating it into their workflows, and Ryan Reynolds enlisted it to write an ad for Mint Mobile, the mobile carrier he part-owns.
Microsoft was also reportedly considering the technology for its Office suite and Bing. Those possibilities underscored the commercial interest around ChatGPT, while OpenAI faced pressure to turn products such as the chatbot into sources of revenue.
The company was reportedly expecting a $10 billion investment from Microsoft. OpenAI expected to make $200 million in 2023, compared with more than $1 billion invested in the startup so far. Those figures help explain why the company was weighing ways to monetize a popular service whose operating costs were already drawing attention.
A pilot within a distinctive business structure
Semafor reported that Microsoft was looking to receive a 49% stake in OpenAI, valuing the company at around $29 billion. Under the reported terms, Microsoft would receive three-quarters of OpenAI’s profits until it recovered its investment. Additional investors would take 49%, while OpenAI would retain the remaining 2% in equity.
OpenAI operated under a “capped-profit” model that limits backers’ returns to 100 times their investment, or possibly less in the future. In that context, the ChatGPT Professional waitlist was an early sign of the company examining paid access as one way to support the chatbot. At the time of the announcement, however, it remained a test, with no broad launch promised.