OpenAI’s GPT Store Has Left Some Developers in the Lurch

OpenAI archetypal announced the enactment for radical to physique customized GPTs astir a twelvemonth ago. The institution described GPTs arsenic an automated, low-code mode to make specialized experiences connected apical of ChatGPT, and said it believed awesome GPTs would beryllium created by nontraditional developers similar educators, coaches, and tinkerers.

The Store would beryllium accessible to customers and builders who paid for ChatGPT Plus, Teams, oregon Enterprise. OpenAI besides stated that it would motorboat a GPT-builder gross programme and that US builders would beryllium paid based connected idiosyncratic engagement with their GPTs. It promised to supply details connected the criteria for payments.

The GPT Store officially launched successful January 2024. In precocious March, developer Nick Dobos shared connected X a screenshot of an email that helium said helium received from OpenAI inviting him to beryllium a portion of its revenue-sharing aviator program. Dobos’ coding GPT, Grimoire, is 1 of the astir fashionable GPTs successful the GPT Store, having hosted implicit 2 cardinal “conversations,” oregon chats with the app.

According to the email Dobos shared connected X, the aviator programme guaranteed him a minimum payout of $1,000 per month, with the imaginable for further net based connected usage. Dobos did not respond to respective emails and nonstop messages asking astir his acquisition with the GPT Store since the aviator programme launched.

When asked astir the presumption of the program, OpenAI pointed WIRED to its help page, which gave a brief, high-level statement of the programme and said the institution “hope[s] to let much builders to monetize their GPTs down the line.”

Like Villocido, Adrian Lin, who lives successful Singapore, was optimistic astir the GPT Store. Lin is simply a full-time AI researcher who has spun up an app lab, Adrian AI Lab, connected the side. He’s not formally trained successful web oregon mobile app development, truthful erstwhile OpenAI said that making a GPT would necessitate nary coding skills, Lin saw it arsenic an accidental to physique and negociate his ain products.

It was casual to fine-tune his models based connected his intentions, Lin says.

Lin estimates that Copywriter GPT, his GPT that drafts advertizing copy, has had betwixt 500,000 and 600,000 interactions. Like Villocido’s Books GPT, Lin’s has been featured connected the homepage of OpenAI’s Store.