OpenAI: Devs, Share Your Org Data, Get "Free" Tokens

Account owners get to decide...

OpenAI’s latest offer in their developer newsletter is bold: free tokens—up to 10M a day—for organizations willing to share their data to improve AI models.

If offered, it will show on your OpenAI dashboard

On the surface, it sounds like a win-win:

…developers get to slash costs and experiment more freely, while OpenAI gains access to domain-specific, real-world data.

But let’s not kid ourselves: data is never “free” to give away.

For startups and small projects, this might be an easy decision.

But for businesses with sensitive customer data or proprietary information, the risks are glaring. Once you opt in, where does your data go? Who benefits from your hard-earned insights? This is the data economy in action—clearer and more transparent than most, but no less fraught.

The takeaway: don’t rush to cash in those tokens without reading the fine print. Data isn’t just a resource; it’s your leverage. And, if it's personal data, your custodial obligations might mean this just isn’t an option. But would your developers even know?

Cheers,

Craig