I think the point is, what exactly is "open" about OpenAI? Can you download their trained model? Can you even access their API without risk of your access getting cut off? What is open about it?
They are open to get nice PR at any opportunity, like DeepMind.
The OpenAI API/GPT-3 is still invite-only.
Is there any timeline on the horizon for normies who don't know anyone important can get a token?
As far as I'm aware, there is no intention to ever open it up. You're better off waiting for GPT-NeoX.
Not even for people to pay for using it?
I got the beta and didn’t do anything special, just applied relatively early. I’d just be patient, their community Slack is constantly growing.