OpenAI Gives US Agencies 50% Off Models, Ending $1 Per Year Deal
TL;DR
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.
Nauti's Take
Usage based pricing at half off is more predictable for agencies than a symbolic dollar deal that expires at some point, and it makes deployment easy to justify inside a budget line. The advantage carries a cost: a nearly free pilot becomes a budget item that grows with usage.
Agencies with defined use cases come out ahead. Anyone who rolled AI out broadly without metering consumption now has a spending problem.
Sources