Asger Risom
OpenAI explores licensing as compute costs climb
OpenAI is quietly rethinking how it makes money.
Executives say the future may involve far more than monthly software fees.
The shift reflects both growing ambition and rising technical limits.
Looking past fees
Sarah Friar, OpenAI’s chief financial officer, said the company is exploring business models that move beyond standard subscriptions. Speaking on a recent podcast, she outlined ways OpenAI could earn revenue only when its technology delivers tangible results.
According to Business Insider, Friar discussed licensing structures where OpenAI would be paid based on customer outcomes rather than usage alone. The idea, she suggested, is to align incentives so OpenAI benefits when its partners succeed.
She pointed to drug development as an example. If a pharmaceutical company used OpenAI’s tools to help create a successful new medicine, OpenAI could receive a licensed share of the drug’s sales.
A strategic puzzle
Friar compared OpenAI’s evolving strategy to a Rubik’s Cube, where many different configurations are possible depending on how pieces are combined.
“One of the things I love about a Rubik’s Cube, I’m probably not getting the number exactly right, but I think it has 43 quintillion different states it can be in,” Friar said. “It always blew my mind when I was in university. So now just think about that cube spinning.”
She said OpenAI began as a much simpler operation. Early on, it relied heavily on Microsoft for cloud infrastructure, Nvidia for chips, and ChatGPT as its primary consumer-facing product.
More options emerge
That simplicity has faded. Business Insider reported that OpenAI now works with multiple cloud providers and chip partners and has expanded beyond ChatGPT into products such as Sora, enterprise tools, industry-focused services, and research platforms.
Pricing has followed a similar path. Friar said the company initially introduced ChatGPT subscriptions “because we needed a way to pay for the compute.” Since then, OpenAI has added tiered pricing, SaaS-style plans, and credit-based models for intensive workloads.
She said OpenAI is also beginning to consider commerce and advertising, alongside longer-term licensing tied to customer outcomes.
Compute pressure
“You can start to see how the goal in the last 12 months has been creating more and more strategic options that allow me to keep paying for the compute we need to really achieve our mission,” Friar added.
All of these choices are constrained by computing capacity. Friar said demand for OpenAI’s services is stronger than the company’s ability to supply them.
Sources: Business Insider
