OpenAI Changes US Government Deal from $1 a Year to Pay-Per-Use with 50% Off

The US General Services Administration said OpenAI will end a pilot program that let government agencies use its models for just $1 a year. The new plan switches to pay-per-use, with federal workers getting 50% off the standard price.

During the pilot, 3.5 million federal employees used ChatGPT, saving $1.4 billion in total. The new deal starts October 1 and runs for more than two years. The discount will also extend beyond the federal government to state, local and tribal governments, covering OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra model.

Rival Anthropic had also struck a $1-a-year deal, but a dispute with the Defense Department over safety clauses led to it being flagged as a supply chain risk. Trump called for agencies to stop using Anthropic products, and the company sued the US government. A California judge ruled the ban must be lifted, while related lawsuits continue.