OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Enterprise, a business-grade chatbot with encryption, as it seeks to monetise its hit AI product

The tool includes unlimited use of OpenAI’s GPT-4, as well as data encryption and a guarantee that the start-up won’t use customer data for model training

ChatGPT Enterprise is a move forward in OpenAI’s plans to make money from its ubiquitous chatbot, which is enormously popular but very expensive to operate

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Published: 10:18am, 29 Aug 2023

OpenAI launched a corporate version of ChatGPT with added features and privacy safeguards, the start-up’s most significant effort yet to attract a broad mix of business customers and boost revenue from its best-known product.

As with consumer versions of the company’s artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, users can type in a prompt and receive a written response from ChatGPT Enterprise. The new tool includes unlimited use of OpenAI’s most powerful generative AI model, GPT-4, as well as data encryption and a guarantee that the start-up won’t use data from customers to develop its technology. The offering also offers the ability to type in much longer prompts.

The roll-out of ChatGPT Enterprise is a move forward in OpenAI’s plans to make money from its ubiquitous chatbot, which is enormously popular but very expensive to operate because robust AI models require lots of computing power. The San Francisco-based start-up has already taken some steps toward generating revenue from ChatGPT, such as by selling a premium subscription and offering companies paid access to its application programming interface, which developers can use to add the chatbot to other apps.

Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s chief operating officer, declined to provide specific details for how much ChatGPT Enterprise will cost, noting it can vary based on the needs of each business. Lightcap said the company “can work with everyone to figure out the best plan for them.”

“We’ve really tried to build the best version of ChatGPT,” Lightcap said in an interview. “That was the mandate for the team: How do we build something that’s the ultimate productivity enhancer?’”

OpenAI worked with more than 20 companies, from small start-ups to larger firms, that had a range of experience with AI to test ChatGPT Enterprise, Lightcap said. Existing users include beauty company Estée Lauder Cos, design software maker Canva Inc and automation platform Zapier Inc. Early customers of the product are tapping it for tasks like coding, helping with creative work and answering business questions, according to OpenAI.

ChatGPT has been used by more than 80 per cent of Fortune 500 companies since it was rolled out in November, OpenAI said. But even as a growing number of organisations have found ways to use ChatGPT for coding and brainstorming, some businesses have purposely stayed away from the chatbot and a growing number of competing AI tools because of concerns about the security and privacy of company and customer data.