OpenAI is ending a pilot program that allowed government agencies to use its models for only $1 per year and moving to a usage-based pricing system that will give federal workers access to the technology at a 50% discount from standard prices, according to a statement from the General Services Administration.
In a push to drive adoption of its models in August of last year, OpenAI joined the GSA’s marketplace, a hub called OneGov that allows federal agencies to buy AI software at scale. The first year’s negotiated terms of $1 per year represented the steepest tech discount the government’s central purchasing arm had ever negotiated, Bloomberg previously reported. During that time, according to the GSA, 3.5 million federal employees have been able to access OpenAI’s ChatGPT, generating $1.4 billion in cost savings from it and other AI models.