A New Era of AI: OpenAI's Marketplace Reshaping the Game
OpenAI is aiming to launch a marketplace of its own, akin to the App Store or Play Market. Here, third-party initiatives will have the opportunity to sell ready-to-use artificial intelligence models to users.
The current initiative both reinforces OpenAI's dominant position as a top AI developer and lessens their monopoly in the available applications market, especially with respect to ChatGPT. Given OpenAI's high-standing reputation, the marketplace could offset financial losses as numerous projects vie to be among the first to sell their own models to a global audience.
OpenAI is not just aiming to launch a trading platform, but to establish a high-quality AI base for various industries such as commerce, finance, healthcare, and more. The company previously tried to create similar solutions for ChatGPT through customizable plugins (like Shopify, Expedia). These proved useful but did not gain widespread popularity, as they were less effective compared to specialized applications and were fee-based.
Although this is merely a greenlit and promising initiative at this point, without a specific roadmap, two third-party developers (Aquant, Khan Academy) have already given the nod to preliminary participation in the trials.
Aquant is busy tailoring ChatGPT, trained with data from customer support services, to hasten the response times of service personnel. Khan Academy, meanwhile, is experimenting with a specialized chatbot, Khanmigo, designed to elevate the quality of learning sessions. For training the AI, exam materials and supplementary resources were utilized. Moreover, safeguards will be put in place to prevent misuse by students. Both startups hold the marketplace idea in high regard, with Aquant's CEO, Shahar Chen, believing that specifically vertical (customized) models will find a prime distribution conduit:
An app store dedicated to AI software would serve as an ideal platform for vertical AI vendors to reach a global audience effortlessly. The AI vendors can effectively monetise their offerings, generate substantial revenue, and expand their customer base.
Many users and developers view this initiative as a promising one, with the potential to overhaul the existing approach to promoting artificial intelligence models, especially for smaller projects. However, the financial and legal nitty-gritty (commissions, regulations) remain shrouded in mystery.
