As concerns grow over the rising cost of artificial intelligence, OpenAI has announced a new phase in its evolution aimed at making advanced AI systems cheaper, more accessible and more useful in everyday life.

Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said the company is entering its “third phase”, shifting its focus from building increasingly powerful models to ensuring that those capabilities are available to a much broader segment of society.

The announcement comes as OpenAI formally begins preparations for a potential stock market debut and intensifies efforts to position artificial intelligence as a widely accessible technology rather than a tool reserved for governments and large corporations.

OpenAI Unveils ‘Third Phase’ Strategy

In a blog post titled Built to benefit everyone: our plan, Altman and OpenAI Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki compared the future impact of artificial intelligence to the spread of electricity in the early twentieth century.

According to the company, the first phase of OpenAI’s journey focused on research aimed at developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), while the second phase began when those advances reached the public through products such as ChatGPT.

“Now we are entering the third phase,” the company said.

This new stage is centred on making advanced AI systems more affordable and widely available. OpenAI said its objective is not simply to build increasingly capable models but to ensure that individuals and organisations everywhere can benefit from them.

AGI is generally defined as an AI system capable of performing a broad range of intellectual tasks with human-like adaptability and reasoning.

The company said it believes AI should become abundant, safe and easy to use, much like electricity eventually became an essential part of daily life.

IPO Preparations Reflect Long-Term Ambitions

OpenAI’s announcement comes shortly after the company confirmed that it had confidentially filed a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, initiating the process for a possible initial public offering.

Although the filing does not guarantee an imminent listing, it signals that a public market debut forms part of OpenAI’s longer-term plans.

The move follows similar developments at rival Anthropic, which recently filed confidential paperwork for its own public offering and reportedly achieved a valuation approaching USD 965 billion after its latest fundraising round.

As competition among leading AI companies intensifies, both firms are seeking to secure the resources needed to support increasingly expensive research and infrastructure requirements.

For OpenAI, the planned IPO aligns with what Altman describes as the company’s third stage of growth, focused on expanding access to advanced AI capabilities.

Focus Shifts To Real-World Benefits

OpenAI stressed that artificial intelligence should ultimately be judged by the problems it helps people solve rather than by technical benchmarks alone.

The company said AI has the potential to assist users in understanding medical bills, learning new skills, starting businesses, caring for ageing relatives and making better legal or financial decisions.

“The point is what people can do with it,” OpenAI said.

According to the company, the central challenge is no longer merely creating powerful systems but translating those capabilities into practical tools that improve people’s lives and contribute to scientific discovery.

At the same time, Altman acknowledged the importance of maintaining human oversight. OpenAI said it does not envision a future in which every aspect of society is fully automated.

Instead, people will continue to play a vital role in defining goals, exercising judgment and determining how powerful AI systems should be used.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into everyday life, OpenAI’s latest strategy signals a shift away from a race centred solely on capability and towards one focused on accessibility, affordability and real-world impact.

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