The text machine ChatGPT gets a subscription business model after a completely free test phase.

For $20 a month, paying customers should get reliable access to the software and faster results, even when workloads are high.

Another advantage of the payment version called ChatGPT Plus is early access to future new functions and improvements, as the developer company OpenAI announced in a blog entry on Thursday night.

ChatGPT is artificial intelligence-based software trained on massive amounts of text and data to mimic human speech.

OpenAI made ChatGPT publicly available last year, sparking both admiration for the software's capabilities and concerns.

ChatGPT is so good at mimicking human speech that there are concerns, among other things, that it could be used to cheat on schoolwork or create large-scale disinformation campaigns.

This week, OpenAI therefore presented a program that is supposed to recognize texts written by computers.

Income should finance many users

The large rush of users in recent weeks has temporarily overloaded the system.

ChatGPT Plus customers should have no problems with this.

The subscription model will initially only be available in the USA, but will be introduced in other countries "soon".

ChatGPT emphasized that there should continue to be free access to the software.

The subscription income should finance it for as many users as possible.

OpenAI also has a multi-billion dollar deal with Microsoft, in which the group integrates the company's programs into its cloud platform.

ChatGPT is also to be integrated into Microsoft's Bing search engine, the Silicon Valley website "The Information" reported back in January.

ChatGPT is also becoming more and more popular in Germany.

According to a survey, every fourth person in Germany who uses the Internet at least occasionally knows the software or even uses it.

In the "Artificial Intelligence Opinion Monitor" from the Bochum-based research facility CAIS (Center for Advanced Internet Studies), only three percent of respondents said that they use ChatGPT regularly.

Eight percent have already tried the chat robot.

And 17 percent have at least heard of it.

Private use comes first

According to the survey, the private use of the AI-based language model is the main focus for users who use the language software regularly or only occasionally.

A quarter of the users use the chatbot professionally.

Only about 11 percent of this group use ChatGPT for school, training or study.

If you look at the group of regular users, a different picture emerges: Here, almost a third of the use takes place in connection with activities at school or university.

Overall, according to the survey, the majority of people in Germany have a positive attitude towards the ChatGPT technology.

More than half of respondents say they are impressed with the technology.

This group is positive about ChatGPT's potential for support in many areas.

However, almost 50 percent of those surveyed are also worried about possible effects on the workplace or people being displaced by machines.

Around 48 percent of those surveyed are concerned about the protection of their own privacy and possible violations of data protection regulations.