Accounting giant PwC has signed a deal with AI startup OpenAI, making it the largest customer and first reseller of OpenAI’s enterprise-focused ChatGPT product.
OpenAI and PwC will enhance businesses’ approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration into everyday work.
PwC will deploy ChatGPT Enterprise to its 100,000 US and UK employees, granting the firm access to a more powerful and customizable version of the popular AI tool.
While details of the financial agreement remain undisclosed, this partnership will impact PwC’s AI adoption and enable them to resell these capabilities to other companies.
OpenAI has been seeking to expand its enterprise customer base beyond its initial backer, Microsoft. This deal with PwC could be a turning point, ascertaining the prospect of generative AI for large-scale business applications.
PwC views this partnership as a strategic investment in its own future. The company believes ChatGPT can enhance employee productivity and simplify workflows, potentially leading to business growth without extensive workforce expansion.
The ability to resell this technology will further help in achieving its mission of becoming the go-to firm in the digital transformation consulting space.
While we still look out for the long-term impact of generative AI on employment, PwC notes the possibility of augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing them. The company’s high employee engagement with AI training tools signifies a strong internal buy-in for this technology.
The specific pricing of the enterprise-level ChatGPT is not publicly available, with estimates suggesting a considerable cost for large-scale deployments. This highlights a key challenge for OpenAI – convincing businesses to transition from limited AI use cases to comprehensive, strategic adoption.
While PwC will continue direct engagement with enterprises, this partnership allows the company to leverage its expertise and reach to expand market penetration. This could facilitate wider adoption of OpenAI’s solutions.