ChatGPT is now open to third parties! OpenAI's "platform ambition" is strikingly similar to Facebook's in 2007.
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OpenAI is transforming its popular chatbot ChatGPT into an open platform, allowing third-party developers to directly integrate their apps and services.
On Monday, at its inaugural Developer Day in San Francisco, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the launch of the "ChatGPT-internal app" feature. Users will be able to directly access a range of third-party services—from travel booking and online education to design creation— within a single chat interface, thus upgrading ChatGPT from an information Q&A tool to a comprehensive platform capable of accomplishing complex tasks.
By opening up its more than 800 million weekly active users to external developers, OpenAI not only creates a huge potential source of revenue for itself, but may also reshape the business landscape of the internet.
This shift is strikingly similar to Facebook’s platform ambitions in 2007 when it launched the “social graph,” and it signals OpenAI’s intent to turn ChatGPT into the core gateway of the next generation internet.
Analysts believe that this move puts OpenAI at a critical crossroads. Whether it can pursue commercialization while avoiding the fate of Facebook’s shattered platform dreams due to data privacy crises, and maintain user trust in its core product, will be key to the success of its platform ambitions.
The first step towards an "operating system"
At Monday’s Developer Day, OpenAI software engineer Alexi Christakis demonstrated a series of integrations: by "tagging" Canva in a conversation, he directly generated a range of poster design options within the ChatGPT interface, and then quickly turned the poster into a presentation. Similarly, he could seamlessly call Zillow to search for properties or use Coursera to assist learning.
Starting today, developers can use the software development kit (SDK) provided by OpenAI to build such integrated apps. The first batch of partners includes Expedia, Figma, and Spotify, and in the coming weeks, well-known companies like Uber, DoorDash, OpenTable, and Target will also join.
OpenAI plans to eventually set up an app directory to help users browse and discover apps optimized for ChatGPT.
"In the next six months, you’ll see ChatGPT evolve from a very useful app into something more like an operating system," said ChatGPT head Nick Turley in Monday’s Q&A with reporters:
"Here, you can access different services and software, including those you’re used to using, and—what excites me most—brand-new software built natively on top of ChatGPT."
From the social graph to the AI graph: history repeating itself
OpenAI’s current strategy is remarkably similar to Facebook’s nearly twenty years ago.
In 2007, at its F8 developer conference, Facebook introduced the concept of the "social graph," allowing third-party developers to build apps based on users’ interests, preferences, and friend relationships for the first time, thus transforming a closed social network into a platform driving the entire internet ecosystem.
Now, with a huge user base and extremely high user stickiness, ChatGPT is making OpenAI executives ponder the same question: can this service become so essential that it becomes the "gateway" to the rest of the internet?
This transformation would not only provide users with a more personalized, practical experience, but also generate huge revenues for the company. It is worth noting that among OpenAI employees, there are hundreds who were once Meta (formerly Facebook) employees.
Unsettled business model: searching for the next "FarmVille"
Just as with Facebook when it launched its platform, OpenAI has not yet finalized its own commercialization strategy.
Historically, Facebook eventually launched its own virtual currency, Facebook Credits, and required Zynga’s popular game FarmVille and other apps to conduct transactions through it, taking a 30% cut. For a time, Zynga alone contributed 12% of Facebook’s total revenue.
For OpenAI, its monetization paths may be more diverse. Industry speculation suggests that possible models include revenue sharing with third-party apps, or charging a “referral fee” to users who become paid users.
For example, when ChatGPT recommends a Coursera algebra course and the user pays, OpenAI could take a share. Another possibility is promoting specific integrated apps via auction ranking.
User privacy protection is a major test
However, Facebook’s path to platformization was not smooth. Due to lax management of developer API permissions, this ultimately led to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal— a quiz app illegally shared data on 87 million users, which was later used for Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
This crisis of trust finally forced Facebook to tighten API permissions in 2015, ending its original platform ambitions.
OpenAI executives promise to take a “stricter” approach to data privacy, sharing only necessary information with developers, but have not provided details.
Unlike Facebook’s “social graph,” OpenAI does not have friend relationships to worry about. But the “AI graph” may carry even greater risks, since ChatGPT stores vast amounts of users’ private conversations. Any intentional or accidental data leak could bring disastrous consequences for users and the company. A true privacy disaster was enough to end Facebook’s platform dream; OpenAI likely cannot afford any more.
Balancing commercialization and user experience is another big challenge
Another unresolved issue is whether new business incentives will erode the user experience that underpins ChatGPT’s success.
Just as search engine optimization degraded the quality of Google’s search results to some extent, there are concerns that OpenAI may auction off promotion spots for apps to the highest bidder, sacrificing ChatGPT’s utility for commercial gain.
"That’s exactly why we are trying to remain open-minded, because it’s impossible to foresee all the impacts these decisions will have on user interactions," Nick Turley admitted when asked about this.
Sam Altman emphasized that the company is motivated to maintain users’ trust. He said:
"I think part of that trust is that even if users think ChatGPT screwed up, they still feel it’s really trying to help you," he said. "If we undermine that trust for money we shouldn’t be taking, that relationship will be quickly destroyed."
OpenAI President Greg Brockman added:
"There are a lot of nuances in this area... Our principle is to truly serve users, and then to think about what that means in every specific context."
These discussions echo the motto Google once believed in, though later became troubled by—"Don’t be evil." Before revenue pressures arrive, it’s relatively easy to put users first; but once you become a true platform, commercial incentives may make everything look very different.
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