OpenAI launches official ChatGPT support for universities and non-profit organizations

Artificial intelligence (AI) firm OpenAI has launched a pair of startups to expand the company's ChatGPT services to universities and nonprofits.

The first of the new services is “ChatGPT Edu”, a large language model of AI designed for use by universities specifically for students, teachers, researchers and campus operations.

According to OpenAI, the new offering “includes enterprise-level security and control and is affordable for educational institutions”.

A company blog post outlines several current use cases for ChatGPT at the university level. Among the institutions mentioned as using the service are Oxford, Wharton, University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University and Columbia University.

Researchers in Colombia, for example, are developing intervention strategies to prevent drug overdoses using chatgpyt. Meanwhile, an adjunct professor at Arizona State has developed “GPT Buddy,” a service that allows students learning German to practice their language skills through conversation on their own time.

According to a blog post, Kyle Bowen, Deputy CIO at Arizona State University, was adamant about the ChatGPT Edu initiative:

“Integrating OpenAI technology into our academic and operational frameworks will accelerate change at ASU. We are collaborating across our community to use these tools, making our lessons a model that can be scaled up to other institutions.

OpenAI has also launched an initiative aimed at reducing the costs of using ChatGPT for additional tools and non-profit organizations.

Nonprofit organizations that sign up for the service can now access the ChatGPT team service at a discounted rate of $20 per user per month, plus a 50% discount for “larger nonprofits.”

Both ChatGPT Edu and ChatGPT Non-Profit have access to the latest models, including GPT-4o, as well as services and features including image generation, collaborative workspaces, and custom GPTs.

Related: OpenAI shuts down 5 campaigns that used technology for ‘deceptive effect'

In related news, OpenAI recently made its GPT-4o model available to non-paying users (a free alternative to using ChatGPT). This allows users in this level to search for and load custom GPTs, generate images including charts and graphs, upload files, and integrate web responses. Users still need to subscribe to the paid tier to create their own custom GPT and remove message restrictions on the GPT-4o model.