April 10 news.Anthropic announced the launch of its AI chatbot Claude brand newSubscription Plans -Max, which is seen as a strong response to OpenAI ChatGPT Pro's $200 per month subscription program.The Max program compares to Anthropic's own $20 per month Claude Pro subscription.Usage restrictions are more relaxed, while users also get priority access to the company's latest AI models and features.
However, the Max program itself is slightly more complicated with two different pricing and usage limitations. There's a $100 per month (note: current exchange rate is about $736) Max tier, which has a rate limit five times higher than Claude Pro, and a $200 per month (current exchange rate is about $1,472) Max tier, which has a rate limit up to 20 times that of Claude Pro.
With cutting-edge AI model developers looking for new ways to increase revenue, offering high-priced AI subscriptions to high-end users seems to be a promising path, as OpenAI revealed to investors that its annualized revenue grew by $300 million just two months after launching ChatGPT Pro. If Anthropic's Max program achieves similar success, it could certainly give the company a much-needed boost.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Anthropic's head of product, Scott White, said thatCompany doesn't rule out more expensive subscription plans in the future. It's worth noting that unlike OpenAI's ChatGPT Pro, which offers an unlimited usage plan, Anthropic has yet to launch a similar unlimited usage plan.
When asked if Anthropic would consider launching a $500 per month Claude plan, White responded, "We will always keep some exploratory options open." He also added that user feedback will continue to guide Anthropic in the direction of its product roadmap.
In response to the significant cost of developing cutting-edge AI models, Anthropic is exploring a variety of new revenue streams, including the Claude for Education program for the education sector. The program is designed to target university customers and provide specific features and benefits to colleges and universities.
While Anthropic declined to disclose the number of subscriptions to Claude to date, White noted that the company's new Claude 3.7 Sonnet AI model has generated "significant demand" for its product. Claude 3.7 Sonnet is Anthropic's first inference model, a type of model that uses more computing power than traditional models to answer certain questions more reliably.