It's inevitable and that it has long been predicted.
When OpenAI first introduced ChatGPT, it quickly awed and wowed the world with the ability. And when people could purchase a subscription, use its API, and use it for business purposes, it's certain that OpenAI would create a market dedicated for it.
And this is what exactly happened.
OpenAI finally launched what it calls 'GPT Store', a marketplace where paying ChatGPT users can buy and sell specialized chatbot agents based on the company’s language models.
The company already offers customized bots through its paid ChatGPT Plus service, and that users have already created over 3 million custom versions of ChatGPT.
The new store will allow users to offer and monetize a broader range of tools.
Introducing the GPT Store: Over 3M GPTs have been created and now you can find the most useful versions of ChatGPT for you.https://t.co/rdR0jMEYgt pic.twitter.com/DAuVCzUmy9
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 10, 2024
In a blog post, OpenAI said that:
"The store features a diverse range of GPTs developed by our partners and the community. Browse popular and trending GPTs on the community leaderboard, with categories like DALL·E, writing, research, programming, education, and lifestyle."
The store has been compared with Apple’s App store, and Google's Play Store, but in this case, it's only for the AI space.
The company said in a blog post that it would launch a revenue-sharing program in the first quarter of 2024, through which builders shall be paid based on user engagement with their GPTs.
In an email to developers for the platform last week, OpenAI told users to ensure that their chatbots meet usage polices and GPT brand guidelines. The company highlighted several products already on offer in a press release accompanying the launch, including ones from the design app Canva and the hiking app AllTrails.
The new store is available to subscribers of its premium services ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise, as is a new subscription tier called Team, which costs $25 each month for each user. Team subscribers can also create custom GPTs for team needs.
During it inaugural demo day for developers, Altman offered to cover the legal costs for developers who may run afoul of copyright law in creating products based on ChatGPT and OpenAI’s technology. OpenAI itself has been sued multiple times for alleged copyright infringement for using copyrighted text to train its large language models. Altman said in early January that it would be “impossible” to create ChatGPT without including copyrighted material in the training corpus of the artificial intelligence.
The GPT store was originally slated to open in November before its launch was delayed by the firing of Sam Altman.
At the time, the company's board fired him as CEO.
But following a near-mass exodus by employees, Altman returned to the role a week later.
Read: No 'Malfeasance': The Firing Of Sam Altman, And How OpenAI Desperately Wants Him Back
ChatGPT, the company’s flagship product, was released in November 2022 to little fanfare but quickly caught on with consumers, accruing 100 million users in a matter of months. OpenAI also makes the Dall-E image generation software, though it is not clear as yet whether the store will allow for custom image bots or solely bespoke chatbots.