OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said in an interview on Tuesday that it would be reasonable to ultimately charge commercial users thousands of dollars per month for artificial intelligence software to better reflect the value the technology provides companies.
Asked about recent reports that the company is discussing charging $2,000 a month for subscriptions for its AI products, Friar said: "I would like to keep the door open. If it helps me move around in the world and allows me to have a PhD-level assistant for whatever I'm doing, then that would certainly make sense in some cases."
OpenAI currently offers consumers a $20-per-month subscription package, as well as a newly launched $200-per-month option that gives access to its most powerful new models. OpenAI also charges enterprises a flat rate per seat.
However, Friar said that in the future OpenAI could charge customers based on the value they derive from using the company's products, especially in corporate settings — whether they're lawyers turning to AI for help or academics relying on AI for research breakthroughs. This could help offset the huge costs of developing AI systems.
The possible move to a value-based pricing model for OpenAI software comes as the company is about to launch an AI agent that can use computers to perform complex tasks like booking travel or conducting research. These tools have proven to be more financially valuable to businesses, in part because they automate roles.
"How else are you going to fund it? Are you going to hire more people?" Friar said. "To some extent, how do you look at the replacement cost and then how do we come up with a fair price for that?"