ChatGPT is becoming a certified cash cow with OpenAI on course to generate $1 billion in annual sales, report says
- ChatGPT is set to become a $1 billion sales cash cow for OpenAI.
- The Information cited a source saying OpenAI will soon hit $1 billion in annual sales.
OpenAI's prized possession ChatGPT is helping propel the company towards $1 billion in annual revenue as the boom in AI demand from businesses drives a sales bonanza, according to a new report.
The creator of the buzzy generative AI chatbot is on course to hit the $1 billion sales milestone within the next 12 months, well ahead of internal projections sent to shareholders, The Information reported, citing an anonymous person with knowledge of the matter.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment outside regular working hours.
There are external indications that OpenAI is having success selling enterprise integrations. Insider analysis of first-half earnings calls for 2023 showed an uptick in analyst questions about ChatGPT, and more than 100 executives from businesses ranging from online florists to clothing retailers talking about their integrations.
OpenAI also secured a multi-billion dollar investment from Microsoft in January at a reported valuation of $27 billion.
It comes as OpenAI prepares for greater demand from businesses. The firm announced ChatGPT Enterprise on Monday, offering "unlimited higher-speed" access to GPT-4, its top-end large language model, and other enhanced features. The firm launched a cheaper, pilot $20-a-month subscription to ChatGPT in April.
"Today marks another step towards an AI assistant for work that helps with any task, is customized for your organization, and that protects your company data," OpenAI said in its blogpost announcing ChatGPT Enterprise.
It added that early users of the enterprise service, such as Canva, Carlyle, and PwC, are using ChatGPT to do things such as "craft clearer communications, accelerate coding tasks, rapidly explore answers to complex business questions, assist with creative work, and much more."
OpenAI's success has been complicated in recent months. Developers using the AI model at the heart of ChatGPT say it's getting dumber. Last month, research firm Similarweb found that worldwide traffic to ChatGPT dropped 10%. And a number of media organizations and major websites, including Amazon and The New York Times, have blocked GPTBot, the web crawler used by OpenAI to hoover up information to train its model.
The company has also seen competitors emerge to rival its AI services, with the likes of Meta and Google seeking to grab a bigger slice of the AI market.