OpenAI has opened a waitlist for access to a paid version of ChatGPT that features additional improvements. The company has, so far, been reluctant to make premium accounts for ChatGPT--despite OpenAI reportedly spending millions of dollars a month to keep it free. OpenAI says that it doesn't plan on making paid "pro" accounts generally available in the foreseeable future. However, the waitlist for such an experimental version shows what kind of enhancements paying users could expect. Users of'ChatGPT Professional' will always be able to access the service.

After being banned by schools around the United States due to concerns over cheating, OpenAI's viral AI chatbot ChatGPT is now experimenting with a paid professional tier that would make the virtual assistant always available, issue faster responses, and allow for significantly more searches every day. The large language model chatbot has taken the world by storm due to its ability to answer complex questions in a surprisingly sentient way and perform useful and previously human-exclusive tasks such as writing full-length essays, debugging code, creating full images from written prompts, coming up with songs, finding answers to homework assignments, and more. With more than a million users at a cost of around a cent or two to generate each response, ChatGPT is currently figuring out the best way to monetize its services, incorporating a series of pricing questions on its waitlist form with plans to speak to members of the community. After the pilot program and initial craze, OpenAI, which was co-founded by Elon Musk and investor Sam Altman with $1 billion USD backing from Microsoft, should have a much better idea of how ChatGPT will be utilized for both individuals and businesses. The company currently anticipates $200 million USD in revenue this year and $1 billion USD in 2024.