06/12/2026
AI in the News: How ChatGPT’s Technology Can Power New App Ideas
By Dr. Troy Hawk, Ph.D.
InfoTech Education Corp.
Many people know ChatGPT, but they may not know the company behind it: OpenAI.
OpenAI is the company that created ChatGPT and develops AI models that can answer questions, generate text, summarize information, analyze content, and support many other tasks. Recent reports say OpenAI is considering lowering prices for some of its AI services. This matters because OpenAI’s technology is not only used through the ChatGPT app or website. It can also be built directly into other apps, websites, education tools, business systems, customer service platforms, and automated workflows.
The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI may lower prices as competition grows with Anthropic, the company behind Claude. Other outlets, including The Times, the New York Post, and MarketWatch, have connected this story to a larger discussion about AI costs, competition, and whether companies are getting enough value from expensive AI tools.
For anyone who has an idea for an AI-powered app, tool, service, or business, even without knowing how to build it yet, this news is worth understanding.
**How APIs Help Ideas Become AI-Powered Tools**
You do not have to be a software engineer to understand why this matters.
Many people have ideas for apps, websites, tutoring tools, nonprofit services, business assistants, or customer service systems, but they may not know how those ideas could connect to AI. This is where APIs become important.
API stands for Application Programming Interface. That may sound technical, but the basic idea is simple: one software system asks another software system for help, and the second system sends something useful back.
For example, someone may have an idea for an app that helps students study. The app could allow a student to type a question, send that question to an OpenAI model through an API, and then show the AI-generated explanation inside the app.
The user may never see the API. They simply experience the app. Behind the scenes, the API helps connect the idea to the AI.
**Why Lower AI Costs Could Matter**
AI pricing matters because cost affects what people can afford to build.
If AI tools are expensive to connect and use, a school, startup, nonprofit, small business, educator, or independent creator may have to limit how much AI their tool can provide. If AI prices decrease, more people may be able to experiment, test ideas, and create useful AI-powered tools that were previously too expensive to operate.
Lower AI costs could make it easier to build tools that help students study, summarize documents, answer customer questions, translate text, support tutoring, assist with writing or coding, organize business information, help nonprofits serve more people, and automate repeated tasks.
This is why a possible price reduction is more than a business story. It could affect who gets to build with AI.
**What Tokens Have to Do with Price**
AI API pricing is often based on tokens. A token is a small unit of text that an AI model reads or generates. Tokens are not exactly the same as words, but they are a useful way to measure how much text the AI processes.
Input tokens are what the user or application sends to the model. Output tokens are what the model sends back.
For example, if a study app asks an AI model to summarize a chapter, the question and chapter text count as input tokens. The summary created by the AI counts as output tokens.
When an app uses AI thousands or millions of times, those token costs can add up quickly. Lower token prices could make AI development more affordable and open the door for more people to build useful AI-powered systems.
**Where OpenAI Models Show Up in the Real World**
Many well-known organizations use OpenAI models, OpenAI APIs, or OpenAI-powered tools, although they do not all use them in the exact same way.
Microsoft uses OpenAI models through Azure OpenAI Service and has connected OpenAI technology to parts of its Copilot ecosystem. Morgan Stanley has worked with OpenAI to embed GPT-4 into financial advisor workflows for knowledge access and summarization. Apple partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence experiences. Khan Academy has used OpenAI models for educational support and AI-powered tutoring.
These examples show that OpenAI models are not limited to the public ChatGPT website. They can be built into business software, education platforms, productivity tools, financial services, customer support systems, and other real-world applications.
**What This Means for Future AI Builders**
The future of AI will not only be about using AI tools. It will also be about building useful, responsible, and affordable AI-powered systems.
For the person with an idea, the key lesson is this: you do not have to know every technical detail on day one, but it helps to understand that tools like APIs make it possible for apps to connect with AI models.
If AI API prices decrease, more people may be able to experiment, build, and launch useful tools. However, responsible builders still need to think carefully about accuracy, privacy, security, bias, reliability, cost, and whether AI is the right solution for the problem.
In simple terms, APIs are bridges. They help connect an idea to working technology. If AI becomes cheaper to connect, more people may be able to move from “I have an idea” to “I can build a useful tool.”
**Think About This**
If AI API prices become much lower, what types of apps, tools, or services could students, small businesses, schools, nonprofits, educators, or independent creators build that may have been too expensive before?
References
MarketWatch. (2026, June 11). ChatGPT price-war report comes as data shows AI usage already tailing off. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/chatgpt-price-war-report-comes-as-data-shows-ai-usage-already-tailing-off-0ab2f174
Microsoft Azure. (2024, May 21). Azure OpenAI Service powers the Microsoft Copilot ecosystem. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-openai-service-powers-the-microsoft-copilot-ecosystem/
OpenAI. (2022, November 30). ChatGPT. https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
OpenAI. (n.d.). API platform. https://openai.com/api/
OpenAI. (n.d.). API pricing. https://openai.com/api/pricing/
OpenAI. (n.d.). Apple and OpenAI announce partnership. https://openai.com/index/openai-and-apple-announce-partnership/
OpenAI. (n.d.). Khan Academy: Powering virtual education for the classroom. https://openai.com/index/khan-academy/
OpenAI. (n.d.). Morgan Stanley uses AI evals to shape the future of financial services. https://openai.com/index/morgan-stanley/
The New York Post. (2026, June 11). OpenAI weighs slashing prices in attempt to lure users from rival Anthropic: Report. https://nypost.com/2026/06/11/business/openai-weighs-slashing-prices-in-attempt-to-lure-users-from-rival-anthropic-report/
The Times. (2026, June 11). OpenAI considers drastic price cuts, anticipating war for users with Anthropic. https://www.thetimes.com/business/wsj/article/openai-price-cuts-war-anthropic-hjjcxtznj
The Wall Street Journal. (2026, June 10). OpenAI considers drastic price cuts, anticipating war for users with Anthropic. https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-considers-drastic-price-cuts-anticipating-war-for-users-with-anthropic-9b8c178e
Learn how OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, uses APIs to help power AI features inside apps, websites, education tools, and business systems.
