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OpenAI Partners with PwC for Major ChatGPT Deal

Open AI and PwC Partner to Transform Enterprise AI

ChatGPT Goes Enterprise

ChatGPT, the popular AI tool known for everything from creating travel plans to helping developers with coding, is now making a significant move into the business world. On Wednesday, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced a landmark deal with PwC, the global consulting giant. This partnership aims to show how AI can transform the workplace.

PwC Becomes Major Client and Partner

PwC will be OpenAI’s largest customer, with 100,000 users signing up for ChatGPT’s enterprise tier. Additionally, PwC will become OpenAI’s first partner to resell ChatGPT's enterprise solutions to other companies.

Launched in August 2023, ChatGPT’s enterprise tier offers faster and unlimited interactions, customization for various use cases, and advanced analytics. However, OpenAI must still persuade businesses to adopt these tools as significant IT investments.

"PwC is the first partner that we are leaning into in this way," said Richard Hasslacher, OpenAI’s global head of alliances and partnerships. "PwC becomes our largest customer, but they’re also our first partner who’s going to be reselling ChatGPT enterprise."

Impact on PwC and Beyond

Currently, ChatGPT’s enterprise tier has around 600,000 users, including 93% of Fortune 500 companies. With PwC’s 100,000 employees in the U.S., U.K., and the Middle East joining, these numbers will significantly increase. PwC could eventually expand this to all 328,000 of its global employees.

For PwC, this deal highlights its commitment to evolving with AI and capturing new business opportunities. Bret Greenstein, partner and generative AI leader at PwC, emphasized that adopting ChatGPT will not threaten jobs. Instead, it will enable the company to grow its business without needing more staff.

"This is very important for us," Greenstein said. "We were early adopters of ChatGPT, so moving to the enterprise tier made sense as we increased our usage."

PwC has been developing tools around ChatGPT. "As the technology stack improves, we can buy more solutions rather than build them. This allows us to focus more on outcomes and business processes, and less on assembling APIs," Greenstein explained.

Future of Generative AI in Business

There has been skepticism about whether generative AI is just a fad or will see sustained use. While Greenstein did not disclose daily usage numbers, he noted that PwC’s training tools for AI have seen 90% engagement. Generative AI represents a new growth area for consulting firms like PwC, which are already heavily involved in digital transformation.

"Our clients are on the same journey, so we’re starting a reselling agreement," Greenstein said.

ChatGPT’s self-service version costs $30 per user, while the consumer edition is $20. Enterprise pricing is not publicly disclosed, but estimates suggest it could be around $60 per seat per month for large accounts like PwC’s.

OpenAI will continue to work with enterprises directly but sees its partnership with PwC as a way to extend its reach. "Today, we have our own customer success team to support GenAI solution deployments," Hasslacher said. "But our capacity is limited, which is where the partner ecosystem, starting with PwC, comes into play."

This partnership marks a significant step in integrating AI solutions into the business world, promising to revolutionize how companies like PwC operate and serve their clients.