OpenAI plans $2K monthly subscriptions for new LLMs

OpenAI executives are reportedly considering subscription prices as high as $2,000 per month for their upcoming large language models, including a new flagship model named Orion and a reasoning-focused model called Strawberry. These discussions emerged during early internal talks, indicating a significant shift in pricing strategy for advanced AI services. Currently, the ChatGPT Plus subscription is priced at $20 per month, while a free tier remains popular among users, with hundreds of millions accessing it monthly. The Strawberry project aims to enhance AI models' capabilities in conducting deep research through a specialized post-training approach. This method allows for the adaptation of generative AI models to improve their performance in specific areas after initial training on broad datasets. Such advancements could position OpenAI's offerings as more competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Recent media reports suggest that major companies like Apple and Nvidia are in discussions to invest in OpenAI, potentially leading to a new fundraising round that could elevate the company's valuation to over $100 billion. This interest from tech giants underscores the growing significance of AI technologies and the potential for substantial financial backing to support OpenAI's ambitious projects. The ChatGPT application has seen remarkable growth, with over 200 million weekly active users, doubling its user base since the previous fall. This surge in popularity highlights the demand for AI-driven solutions and sets the stage for OpenAI's future developments, including the anticipated high-end subscription models that could cater to a more specialized audience.