OpenAI may be planning to introduce weekly and lifetime subscriptions to its ChatGPT AI model. An X user named @M1Astra spotted some interesting strings in the latest ChatGPT app build with mentions of words – ‘weekly’ and ‘lifetime.’

Interestingly, we also spotted a string that reads ‘Upgrade to Plus,’ which means that these subscriptions may be introduced for ChatGPT Plus. Of course, all of this is just speculation as of now and may not materialize anytime soon.

Still, this highlights the fact that OpenAI is trying to come up with new tactics to capture the market. After all, its current free plan is not sufficient for most casual users, while the $20/month Plus plan is admittedly too expensive for the average user.

The ‘weekly’ plan hits just the sweet spot in this regard. It’s perfect for people with limited AI needs. For instance, students might get the weekly plan while working on university assignments. This way, they won’t have to pay for the entire month’s subscription or worry about cancellations.

However, the ‘lifetime’ plans make little sense to us and to the wider audience who reacted to the news. AI is a rapidly developing technology with new applications being found every day.

We don’t think that even OpenAI can confidently say what its products will look like five years down the line. In such a dynamic landscape, would you want to be stuck with a ‘lifetime’ subscription with no surety of updates?

Read more: OpenAI pushes for democratic AI – and we think it could be a marketing gimmick.

OpenAI’s Huge Cost Recovery Path

OpenAI has pumped billions of dollars into its revolutionary ChatGPT AI model, releasing various variants over the last four years. It recently raised a $40 billion investment round led by SoftBank. No doubt, the investment is humongous, and as it happens in every capitalistic economy, the price has to be ultimately paid by the end user.

However, the time seems to be running out for ChatGPT in the face of increasing cost competition. DeepSeek gave it the biggest reality check by developing an AI model just as good as ChatGPT (if not better) for a mere $1.6 billion.

This left OpenAI and other frontrunners with a big question: How will we justify the billions of dollars pumped into data centers and research facilities? The weekly subscriptions may be an effort to speed up its cost recovery while there is still time.

While we talk about cost, it’s not wise to overlook the quality aspect as well. Of course, OpenAI has a massive early mover advantage and a pool of data that other companies do not. This gives it a ‘quality’ edge over other competitors.

However, if you think from the perspective of a layman who doesn’t know about technical configurations, it will ultimately boil down to cost. And this is where OpenAI’s weekly subscriptions may help it out.

Sure, other companies may follow suit and introduce their own versions of flexible subscriptions. But once again, OpenAI will have the first-mover advantage and may add massively to its user base. For now, we wait for official updates, if any, from OpenAI.