OpenAI plans to launch a store for GPT, custom apps based on the AI models that generate text (eg GPT-4), sometime next week.
In an email seen by TechCrunch, OpenAI said developers building GPTs should review the company’s updated usage policies and GPT branding guidelines to ensure their GPTs are compliant before they qualify for listing. in store — aptly named the GPT Store. They should also verify their user profile and ensure their GPTs are published as “public”.
The GPT Store was announced last year during OpenAI’s first annual developer conference, DevDay, but was delayed in December — almost certainly due to the leadership change that occurred in November, shortly after the initial announcement. (The short version of the story is that CEO Sam Altman was forced off OpenAI’s board and then — after investors and employees panicked — reinstated with a new board.)
GPTs require no coding experience and can be as simple or complex as a developer desires. For example, a GPT can be trained on a collection of cookbooks so that it can answer questions about the ingredients for a particular recipe. Or a GPT could absorb a company’s proprietary codebases so that developers can control their style or build code according to best practices.
Developers can simply type in the features they want their GPT to offer in plain language, and OpenAI’s GPT builder, GPT Builder, will attempt to create an AI chatbot to execute them. Since shortly after DevDay, developers have been able to create and share GPTs with others through the ChatGPT website directly, but not publicly.
It is still unclear if the GPT Store will launch with a revenue sharing program of any kind. As of November, Altman and CTO Mira Murati told my colleague Devin Coldewey that there was no firm plan for monetizing GPT, and the email about the upcoming GPT Store launch didn’t mention what developers can expect on the payments front — if nothing else. .
An OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch that more will be revealed next week.
As I wrote for TechCrunch’s semi-regular AI newsletter a while back, OpenAI’s shift from AI model provider to platform was certainly interesting — but not exactly unexpected. The startup telegraphed its ambitions in March with the release of plugins for ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot, bringing third parties into the OpenAI model ecosystem for the first time.
GPTs effectively democratize the creation of AI applications — at least for applications using the OpenAI family of models. In fact, GPTs could kill consulting firms whose business models revolve around making what are essentially GPTs for clients.
This is good; I would say not necessarily. But we’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out.
