OpenAI business users top 1M, targets premium ChatGPT subscriptions

OpenAI’s paid users across its business segment, including ChatGPT Enterprise, Team and Edu, grew nearly 67% since April to cross one million on Sept. 5. The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence firm’s chatbot continues to thrive due to its advanced language model.

According to a Reuters report, OpenAI’s business products have grown to reach one million users, up from 600,000 in April.

OpenAI reportedly plans to introduce higher-priced subscription plans for its upcoming large language models, such as the Strawberry and Orion AI models. The creator of ChatGPT is considering subscription plans that could cost up to $2,000 per month.

The news comes nearly a month after xAI launched the Grok-2 AI assistant , which is available for X users with Premium or Premium+ memberships. Despite being a relatively new AI venture launched in July 2023, xAI could become an OpenAI competitor by the end of 2024, said Elon Musk during Viva Tech Paris 2024.

Related: California AI bill under scrutiny by US policymakers

OpenAI’s valuation could touch $100 billion

The announcement comes as Apple and US chipmaker Nvidia are reportedly interested in investing in OpenAI’s upcoming funding round, which could value the AI company at over $100 billion. Microsoft will also participate in the funding round and already holds a 49% stake in OpenAI, having invested $13 billion since 2019.

On Aug. 29, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT’s weekly active users have doubled over the past year, surpassing 200 million . Despite this growth, the company’s revenue is still below expectations, with annualized sales of around $3.4 billion as of May 2024.

Cointelegraph has approached OpenAI for comment.

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AI regulation for safety testing

OpenAI has voiced support for California’s AB 3211 AI bill , which would require watermarks in the metadata of AI-generated photos, videos and audio clips. However, the company previously opposed another AI-related bill , SB 1047. 

Source: OpenAI

SB 1047 was introduced on Feb. 7 to mandate AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models. The bill was proposed by California State Senator Scott Wiener and co-authored by senators Richard Roth, Susan Rubio and Henry Stern.

On Sept. 5, the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Framework Convention on AI . The treaty emphasizes the importance of human rights and democratic values in regulating both public and private-sector AI models.

It is the first legally binding international treaty on AI and holds signatories accountable for any harm or discrimination caused by AI systems.

However, if violations do occur, penalties have yet to be established.

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