OpenAI AI Updates: May 17, 2026

1. OpenAI and Malta strike first country-level deal to put ChatGPT Plus in every resident’s hands

OpenAI. OpenAI announced a partnership with the government of Malta that will give the island’s roughly 574,250 residents a year of ChatGPT Plus at no cost after they complete a free “AI for All” course developed by the University of Malta and authenticate with the country’s eID system. The Malta Digital Innovation Authority will run distribution, with the first wave rolling out this month and Maltese citizens living abroad also eligible. The deal is the latest under OpenAI’s “OpenAI for Countries” initiative and is positioned as the first nationwide ChatGPT Plus rollout, with Minister Silvio Schembri framing it as a hedge against citizens being left behind in the AI shift. Source

2. CFO Sarah Friar signals more fundraising ahead despite record $122B round

OpenAI. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told Bloomberg that the company may seek additional capital even after closing what she called the largest private funding round on record about six weeks ago at $122 billion, citing a “vertical wall of demand” and a worsening compute crunch as the gap between needed and affordable capacity widens. Friar said any future raise depends on matching demand, revenue, and cash flows against the compute shortfall, and described the current round as giving OpenAI “a lot of optionality,” while also flagging public markets as an attractive future option given their depth versus private markets. She added that enterprise sales are “run ragged” and that the consumer business is performing strongly. Source