OpenAI States It Will Continue to Offer ChatGPT for Free, Not Pursuing Rapid Profitability
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OpenAI has released a document on its website to clarify its mission and plans while addressing misconceptions about the company. In this document, OpenAI reiterates its founding mission since 2015: to develop artificial intelligence at least as intelligent as humans for the benefit of all humanity. OpenAI explicitly states that its AI development will continue to be overseen by a nonprofit organization, which established a for-profit entity in 2019 as a supplement. On its careers page, OpenAI also highlights its focus on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), aiming to have a profoundly positive impact on humanity's future. Any projects that do not align with this goal are deemed 'inappropriate.'
OpenAI makes it clear that the company prioritizes its mission over profitability, limiting financial returns for employees and investors. Any profits exceeding these limits will be returned to the nonprofit organization. While announcing its new corporate structure in 2019, OpenAI stated it would reward early investors with returns of up to 100 times their investment, though future investors may receive lower multiples.
Reports suggest OpenAI is on track to surpass $1 billion in annual revenue next year, exceeding investor expectations. However, OpenAI emphasizes that due to the high costs of developing and operating foundational AI models, the company is not currently profitable and does not expect to be so in the near future.
Importantly, OpenAI confirms that ChatGPT will remain free for users, with revenue coming from customers and companies willing to pay for 'premium services.' The company's goal is to ensure AI benefits are distributed as widely and safely as possible to people worldwide.
Despite detailing its mission and plans, the document notably omits any mention of Microsoft's substantial investment in OpenAI or how Microsoft actively integrates OpenAI's technology into its Bing chatbot. The Bing chatbot has faced criticism for emotional outbursts and misleading users, with AlgorithmWatch recently catching it spreading election-related misinformation—seemingly contradicting OpenAI's commitment to AI safety. Microsoft responded by stating they are continuously improving the technology, noting that the Bing chatbot uses a hybrid of OpenAI and Microsoft language models.