OpenAI just made an offer the government can't refuse

Equity

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4.2 • 365 Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

OpenAI is making a serious play for the federal government. The company just announced a deal that gives U.S. agencies access to ChatGPT Enterprise for just $1 per year. Yes, really. It’s part of a new “blanket purchase agreement” aimed at getting OpenAI’s tools into federal departments fast and a clear sign the company wants to lock down the public sector before anyone else can. The move is aggressive, strategic, and could shape how generative AI gets deployed across everything from admin work to national security. It also puts serious pressure on rivals like Anthropic, Google, and Amazon to figure out their own government strategy, and fast. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec is joined by guest hosts Rebecca Bellan and Sean O’Kane to break down what OpenAI’s bold government push means for the broader AI landscape, data privacy and model access in federal settings, and how this all connects to OpenAI’s longer-term roadmap — including what we know so far about GPT-5. Listen to the full episode to hear more about: Tesla’s board re-ups Elon Musk’s $29 billion stock package, and what happens if that $56B pay plan comes back from the dead How Joby Aviation’s acquisition of Blade is an infrastructure play Why Vogue’s AI-generated Guess ad is sparking a backlash in the fashion world Post-acquisition whiplash as Cognition lays off staff just three weeks after buying rival AI startup Windsurf As always, Equity will be back for you next week, so don’t miss it! Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a paid ad by Fidelity Private Shares.
0:03.2	A messy or missing cap table might not just slow you down.
0:05.8	It could cost you your next fundraising round.
0:19.8	Hello and welcome back to Equity TechCrunch's flagship podcast about the business of startups.
0:25.9	Today is Friday, August 8th. I'm Kirsten Koresak, transportation editor at TechCrunch.
0:30.6	I am joined today with two new co-hosts who are stepping in because Max and Anthony are taking
0:36.6	some much-needed vacation this
0:38.1	week. And I'm excited because this is basically the transportation team. We've got senior
0:42.7	reporters Rebecca Boulon and Sean O'Kane. Thanks you two for joining me today. Rebecca,
0:49.3	you know, stepping in a little bit back into transportation maybe today a little bit.
1:00.3	Yeah, happy to be here, happy to talk about Tesla anytime, which is our first story that I think we're digging into today.
1:05.2	The board of Tesla is bringing back up Elon's compensation package.
1:09.3	I'm not sure if people remember this from a few years ago or just over the years.
1:10.8	There's been a big uproar over. Can Elon get a staggering
1:12.9	$56 billion pay package? Is he allowed? Will the court stop it? And now there's been another
1:19.9	development in this. Sean has the story. Sean wrote this one up. I would love to kick it to you to give
1:25.6	our listeners a little bit of a breakdown. Yeah, the world's richest man just got richer, huh? How do you like that? Yeah, this was interesting.
1:32.1	I mean, we had thought for a while that Tesla was going to try to work on some sort of supplemental
1:37.8	or additional or whatever you want to call it compensation package because the one that was
1:43.2	approved in 2018, which was at the time
1:46.2	worth around $56 billion, was struck down by a judge in Delaware Chancery Court in January
1:52.5	2024. And so Tesla's board and its supporters and Elon have had a lot of back and forth
	...

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