In a bold move to embed itself within the fabric of U.S. federal operations, OpenAI on Wednesday launched an initiative to provide ChatGPT Enterprise to federal agencies for just $1 over the next year.
The announcement comes as the company intensifies its efforts to deepen government ties, influence policy, and scale public sector AI adoption—at “essentially no cost” to taxpayers.
The limited-time offer, launched in partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), will provide executive branch agencies access to OpenAI’s most advanced AI models via ChatGPT Enterprise, its enterprise-grade product. The company is also offering a 60-day trial of its Advanced Voice Mode, allowing government workers to engage the chatbot in a more natural, spoken format.
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“Helping government work better—making services faster, easier, and more reliable—is a key way to bring the benefits of AI to everyone,” OpenAI said in a blog post announcing the deal.
This initiative is part of OpenAI’s larger strategic push dubbed “OpenAI for Government,” which it officially rolled out in June. At that time, the company revealed it had secured a government contract worth up to $200 million from the U.S. Department of Defense, a milestone that signaled its growing footprint in national infrastructure.
The move also paves the way for OpenAI to shape the regulatory environment around AI from within Washington. It plans to open its first office in the capital early next year, a decision that underscores the tech firm’s escalating presence in federal policymaking and procurement discussions.
The federal push arrives as OpenAI courts investors in a potential stock sale that could value the company at roughly $500 billion—an enormous leap from its last reported valuation of $300 billion following a record-breaking $40 billion funding round in March. That deal remains the largest capital raise ever completed by a private tech company.
The share sale, intended for current and former employees, would allow early contributors to realize gains while helping the company retain top talent in an increasingly competitive AI labor market.
Critics have raised concerns that OpenAI’s deepening ties to government may grant the firm undue influence in shaping federal AI standards and contracts, especially at a time when many other startups struggle to secure comparable access. However, by offering its technology nearly free of charge, OpenAI is positioning itself as a default AI provider for government services, reinforcing its brand as not just a commercial innovator but a public utility.
The partnership with the GSA could also serve as a model for how large AI vendors enter into structured public-private relationships, combining strategic technology adoption with regulatory alignment. While other companies continue lobbying for favorable rules, OpenAI appears to be embedding itself directly into the federal machine, model by model, agency by agency.
The U.S. government, long criticized for its sluggish tech modernization, may finally accelerate its digital transformation with AI at the core as OpenAI’s tools gain traction in the federal sector. However, time will tell whether that transformation is broadly beneficial or disproportionately beneficial to OpenAI.