Artificial intelligence was the top trend in tech this year before Microsoft's AI event, but the new Bing sent interest in AI into overdrive. Over one million people signed up to try the new Bing powered by ChatGPT. Before that, reports stated that ChatGPT had 100 million users in January. With ChatGPT topping headlines, a natural question comes to mind: how is OpenAI going to make money with its AI chatbot?
Every time someone asks ChatGPT a question, the processing power required to get an answer costs somewhere between 1-10 cents on average, according to OpenAI's Sam Altman. He also stated that "[OpenAI] will have to monetize [ChatGPT] somehow at some point; the compute costs are eye-watering."
Single-digit cents per query may not sound like a lot of money, but costs add up quickly. Tom Goldstein, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, estimated that it costs OpenAI approximately $3 million per month to run ChatGPT. Altman noted that the exact cost could differ based on OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft, but it's clear that ChatGPT is expensive to run.
Based on our previous poll as well as a poll from our colleagues at Android Central, many people are interested in switching to the new Bing with ChatGPT. While the search engine will likely make money through ads to counter the monetary cost of AI, it remains uncertain how OpenAI will make ChatGPT profitable when it's used as a standalone product.
OpenAI could take a few different approaches to monetizing ChatGPT. The company could charge per use, have a monthly membership, or bring in ads to the service. It could also expand its partnership with Microsoft by having ChatGPT usage added to Microsoft 365.
I don't have any information that suggests what OpenAI will do. I predict that it will adopt a freemium model at some point, with light usage being free and heavier usage requiring payment in some form.
Please let us know if you'd pay to use ChatGPT in our poll above and reach out to me on Twitter to share your thoughts.
