AI This Week

OpenAI is laying the groundwork for a historic initial public offering, a move that could value the ChatGPT creator at up to $1 trillion. People familiar with the matter report that while discussions are preliminary, a potential listing could occur as soon as late 2026. An IPO would open new avenues for raising capital, helping to finance CEO Sam Altman’s ambitious plans for AI infrastructure and support major acquisitions. This preparation follows a complex corporate restructuring and comes as the company faces mounting losses despite a projected $20 billion revenue run rate. CEO Sam Altman has publicly called an IPO the company’s “most likely path.”

OpenAI is offering its ChatGPT Go plan free for one year to all users in India, beginning November 4 for a limited promotional period. This move focuses on solidifying the company’s standing in one of its largest markets. Existing Go subscribers will also receive the complimentary 12-month access. India presents an immense opportunity with its vast internet and smartphone user base. However, making money from ChatGPT’s paid services has proven difficult, despite millions of downloads. ChatGPT Go offers ten times the usage of the free version for generating responses, creating images, and improving memory for personalized interactions. This robust offering arrives as rivals like Perplexity and Google also vie for India’s large user base. OpenAI plans further India-specific announcements at its upcoming DevDay Exchange in Bengaluru.

PayPal and OpenAI announced a new partnership that integrates the payment firm’s wallet directly into ChatGPT, allowing users to purchase products from within the popular AI tool. News of the deal sent PayPal’s stock surging 13% in premarket trading. The company also raised its annual financial forecast and declared its first-ever dividend in its 27-year history, signaling strong confidence in its cash generation and long-term financial health. The collaboration connects PayPal’s global merchant network to ChatGPT. This positions the company in the new market of AI shopping agents that autonomously research, compare, and buy products for people.

OpenAI is making waves as it enters the $2.8 billion AI-driven music industry, aiming to challenge competitors like Suno and Google. With innovative tools and significant resources, OpenAI steps into a field buzzing with potential, where technology redefines how music is created and consumed. OpenAI’s involvement could reshape industry dynamics, focusing on competition and creativity across platforms. OpenAI plans to rival established players and push boundaries in automated music generation, highlighting the growing intersection of artificial intelligence with artistic expression.

Reddit filed a lawsuit in New York, accusing four companies of harvesting its content for AI training. The complaint names Perplexity AI, SerpApi, Oxylabs, and AWMProxy. Reddit says the firms dodged its ban on bots by pulling Reddit text from Google results, then selling data to OpenAI and Meta. It seeks damages and a permanent injunction. The case lands amid a broader fight over data scraping. Reddit recently sued Anthropic over repeated visits after saying it stopped. LinkedIn sued ProAPIs for using robotic accounts. Legal hurdles loom: the defendants sit outside New York, and X lost a similar case last year. Oxylabs responded, “no company should claim ownership of public data that does not belong to them.”