OpenAI zooms in and will launch the strongest "model store" in history, opening up all ChatGPT applications

Source｜Xinzhiyuan (ID: AI_era) Edit｜La Yan is so sleepy

To put it simply, Sam Altman intends to create a platform for the large models on the market and build an LLM version of the App Store.

In this way, the ecology of the AI model is directly grabbed by OpenAI.

This platform is a two-way connection - developers can sell AI models customized according to their own needs, and enterprises can also easily have a panoramic view of the LLM on the market and use it on demand.

The idea could be summed up as OpenAI’s version of an “app store,” providing companies with access to the latest LLMs, the people said.

In this way, companies can quickly find the most suitable LLM according to their own needs, whether it is used to identify financial fraud, or provide judgments based on the latest market information and answer industry questions, all can be done in one go.

At the same time, it can also hedge the risk that no AI model will occupy an absolute leading position in the future.

Of course, in addition to being good for enterprises, OpenAI believes that the current usage rate of plug-ins related to ChatGPT is not high, and building a platform similar to an "app store" can effectively increase the usage rate of plug-ins.

As of now, no information on how the fees will be charged has been disclosed.

Ultimate private custom large model

Of course, when such a platform comes out, many small companies are probably overjoyed.

After all, even if the model they developed uses ChatGPT, the usage rate is not estimated to be high. And the platform developed by the boss is bound to attract traffic to the models developed by these small companies.

For example, Aquant, a technology company that develops models designed to serve equipment manufacturers, allows manufacturers to better provide repair services to customers.

And Aquant just launched its own chatbot last month, using ChatGPT.

Aquant said that it is very useful and very efficient in answering questions about equipment maintenance.

The company's main customers are also giants in the industry, such as Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Canon and so on.

They can further customize ChatGPT using Aquant's model, plus data from their own devices.

Shahar Chen, CEO of Aquant, said that the data will not be shared among customers, which means that each customer can customize its own model.

Chen said, "Don't underestimate the work we do. This thing is interlaced. Each model has its own area of expertise. If you want chatbots to generate more accurate content, you must use our fine-tuned, more vertical Model."

At present, Aquant has about 100 enterprise customers, 6 of which use the APP equipped with ChatGPT, "Service Copilot".

The company pays Aquant from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month based on usage.

In order to continue to build up its popularity, Aquant has begun to be listed on the Salesforce AppExchange and ServiceNow Store, giving it a sense of presence.

Aquant even wants to launch under Google, OpenAI's number one competitor, but the plan hasn't really come to fruition.

In a similar situation to Aquant, there is also the well-known educational app Khan Academy. They have developed a model called "Khanmigo" for teachers and students, and it is also equipped with ChatGPT.

The main function of "Khanmigo" is to identify cheating, provide teachers with answers to classroom exercises, and more.

Sal Khan, CEO of Khan Academy, said that it is currently planning to put "Khanmigo" on the app store, or provide plug-ins directly in the Web.

Not only that, there are many companies like this. If OpenAI can really create a big LLM store, these companies will be really happy.

LLM版App Store？

However, there is not a single "app store" like this on the market, and job grabbing is inevitable.

For example, technology giants like Microsoft and Salesforce that cooperate with OpenAI also have their own model application stores to connect to the chatbots they create.

And if OpenAI wants to build a big one, it will inevitably be cut off.

Although, there are some technology companies that have not cooperated with OpenAI, and the development of such a platform can effectively promote the competition between OpenAI and them.

Such as Anthropic, Cohere and so on.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed the plan for the first time, according to an attendee at a developer conference in London.

But an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement, "We're not actively working on this right now."

Microsoft: I only officially announced the plug-in system in May

If OpenAI is really successful, there must be another "bloody storm" in the AI circle.

You know, Microsoft just released the most powerful plug-in system in history in May.

OpenAI's LLM application store can be said to directly confront Microsoft and forcibly seize the market. After all, even Microsoft is living off ChatGPT.

I still remember Microsoft’s press conference in May, where Windows Copilot was released directly in the middle of the night in China time, attracting the attention of people all over the world.

As an AI assistant, Windows Copilot is directly integrated into Windows 11 and is available in all apps and programs, just like the Copilot sidebar we see in Edge, Office programs, and GitHub.

With this AI assistant, every user can become a power user, customize their own Windows, and connect seamlessly between their favorite programs.

Windows Copilot is much simpler than Microsoft's addition of Bing chat links to the taskbar.

Even better, because Windows Copilot is built on the same foundation as Bing Chat, developers who write plugins for Bing or ChatGPT can directly extend Windows Copilot.

Microsoft 365 Copilot has also been supported by a large number of plug-ins, so that users can customize Copilot according to their needs.

At the outset, Microsoft is offering more than 20 add-ons to early access customers, including Atlassian, ServiceNow, Adobe, Move Works, Thomson Reuters, and Mural.

Microsoft also promised at the time that it would add support for thousands of Teams messaging extensions and Power Platform connectors to Microsoft 365 Copilot.

The APP Store moment that did not come

In March of this year, OpenAI mentioned this idea and launched a lot of ChatGPT plug-ins.

However, the actual results are not ideal.

OpenAI said at the time that users could use the chatbot to query websites such as OpenTable, Shopify or Expedia, enabling users to quickly book restaurants or buy products without visiting the corresponding websites.

And Jim Fan, a senior student of Li Feifei and Nvidia AI scientist, also expressed excitedly that if the birth of ChatGPT can be regarded as "the emergence of the iPhone", the integration of third-party plug-ins today is an event at the level of "iOS App Store".

Immediately afterwards, developers began to add plug-ins for ChatGPT almost crazily.

Even, there was a surge of more than 100 within 24 hours.

As of June 18, the number of ChatGPT plugins has reached a staggering 461.

However, the reality is cruel - these plug-ins are not as popular as expected.

In a meeting with developers just last month, Altman said: They "do not meet the product market needs"...

It can be said that the launch of the plug-in plan did not achieve the desired effect. The usage rate of the ChatGPT plugin is still sluggish.

I don't know if the current app store can really realize the APP Store moment of LLM.

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