Here’s the number: zero. Starting October 1, OpenAI will charge state, local and tribal governments nothing for the ChatGPT Enterprise license that normally runs $15 a user a month, and half price for usage on top of it. No minimum. That’s the agreement OpenAI and the General Services Administration announced on September 10, and OpenAI says it’s the first time the deal has reached below the federal level, to “all state, local and tribal governments.”
It runs 27 months, through December 31, 2028, so a government that signs knows what it’s paying through the end of 2028.
There’s a security side we’d flag for anyone who runs a city’s systems. Every verified government entity gets OpenAI’s cyber-defense model, Daybreak Blue, at half price with training, and can ask for the red-team version at full price. OpenAI says more than one million government employees already have access to ChatGPT through its existing agreements, and counts about 23 million who become eligible now. It’s promising buyer guidance, spend controls, onboarding and a Government Academy, with a webinar on Monday the 14th. A government’s data doesn’t train its models, it says.
What we couldn’t find on the page: whether a city has to buy through the GSA’s purchasing vehicle or can sign directly, and whether anyone here has already signed. We haven’t asked the cities yet. Both are in the list below.