OpenAI tests allow users to register on ChatGPT with just their phone number

OpenAI has started testing feature gives a new opportunity ChatGPT users register with phone number only – no email required.

as speckled by software engineer Tibor Blaho, the feature, available in beta in the US and India, allows users to create an account for ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, by submitting their number.

There are some limitations.

Users who create an account using their number cannot upgrade to one of OpenAI’s paid plans, such as ChatGPT Plus or ChatGPT Pro, without verifying their account via email. Multi-factor authentication is also not supported without a valid email. Once a number is used for a ChatGPT account, the number is blocked from creating new accounts.

“Recycled or reused phone numbers can cause (a) bug,” OpenAI explains in a new Q&A page on its website. “There is no solution at the moment. You should contact support or wait for a future system update (scheduled for 2025) that may fix this issue.”

OpenAI says it has no plans to bring phone number registration to other regions.

Eager to grow, OpenAI is experimenting with lower-friction ways of getting its products, especially ChatGPT, in front of people.

It introduced OpenAI in December experience This allows US-based users to chat on the phone with ChatGPT for free for 15 minutes per month. Around the same time, OpenAI brought ChatGPT to WhatsApp with bare functionality, limited to a certain number of exchanges per day.

ChatGPT has over 300 million weekly users. Collectively, they contribute billions to the company’s coffers. CNBC for OpenAI reported Expected revenue of $3.7 billion in 2024.

However, the company is far from profitable.

despite being raised Over $6.6 billion OpenAI last year alone reported It lost about $5 billion in fiscal 2024 due to costs including office rent, staff and AI training infrastructure. It is a company said that it was taken into account raises the price of different subscription tiers—CEO Sam Altman recently said that OpenAI losing money on the most expensive plan — and explore usage-based pricing for certain services.