ChatGPT has announced a subscription service for $20 a month that will offer faster response times and priority access to new features.
Despite only being released to the public two months ago, the buzzy AI chatbot has already amassed millions of users. The new subscription plan will allow paid users to have general access to the bot, even during peak times when users are normally made to wait.
OpenAI said last month it was testing a paid version of ChatGPT, opening a waitlist for the "experimental" update. However, the $20 price tag is much lower than the rumored $42 per month previously reported by some users.
Keeping the chatbot open for free likely comes at a significant cost. OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman tweeted back in December that the company would "have to monetize it somehow at some point; the compute costs are eye-watering."
The company said in a blogpost that the subscription service, named ChatGPT Plus, would only be available to customers in the US, although there were plans to expand access and support to more countries soon. The users will be invited from the waitlist, which is still open, over the next few weeks.
The chatbot has amassed many fans and critics across a range of industries. Some users have praised the bot's easy-to-use interface, writing style, and ability to process complex subjects, while others have raised the alarm over its tendency to confidently present misinformation as fact.
