In this article, we look at the latest relevant news regarding developments at OpenAI and its flagship product ChatGPT.
The chatbot has been successfully launched in Apple’s app store and meanwhile Sam Altman, the CEO of the artificial intelligence company, has announced that they might leave the European market if regulations do not become more flexible.
Full details below.
OpenAI and the launch of ChatGPT on the Apple Store: millions in profits lost in fees
Last week OpenAI launched ChatGPT inside the Apple Store and immediately enjoyed huge success.
Right from the start, the chatbot topped the charts in the free app category, probably due in part to the “must have” label given to it by Apple.
The product is currently available only to users in the United States but may soon be rolled out to other countries.
However, the multinational tech company, founded by the famous Steve Jobs, does not seem to be interested in developing its own “generative AI” system capable of generating text, images, and video for users.
Rather, Apple prefers to exploit the success of others and take the now well-known 30% fee on internal sales of its app store.
Specifically in this case, Apple will take $6 to $20 monthly from iOS users for each ChatGPT Plus subscription
Given the success of ChatGPT and its rapid expansion across the planet, this “little trick” could cost OpenAI millions of dollars in fees.
Despite “Apple’s bite” of 30% on the app’s profits, the AI systems developer preferred to opt for the native in-app purchase system instead of choosing to go a separate route.
The crypto world community did not take the news very well arguing that in-app NFT purchases would become an expensive affair.
Some have ironized the matter by saying that Ethereum, a blockchain that is more expensive in terms of gas fees, is cheaper than Apple.
OpenAI could exit the European market due to regulatory pressures
While OpenAI is pushing hard in the US with the launch of ChatGPT in the Apple store of iOS operating systems, the same cannot be said in Europe.
Overly stringent regulations could hold back the company’s expansion on the continent even leading to a cease of operations.
According to rumors reported by Reuters, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has reportedly stated that if the company fails to comply with AI regulations in the Union it will withdraw from the European market.
These are his words:
“There’s so much they could do, like changing the definition of general-purpose AI systems. There’s a lot of things that could be done.”
Going into more detail, the EU AI Act would require companies to disclose copyrighted materials used in the development of generative artificial intelligence, which would greatly penalize OpenAI.
To be fair, even Apple, in the wake of other companies’ decisions, reportedly recently banned its employees from using ChatGPT, fearing the loss of confidential data and storage on third-party servers.
Nevertheless, over-regulation could harm Europe by depriving it of the developments and advances that AI could bring institutions to society.
In this regard, there are rumors that the EU AI Act is likely to be withdrawn because it is incapable of meeting market needs and potentially detrimental to the European Union.
The European Parliament has invited Joe Biden to jointly discuss the topic of AI with the European Commission and Ursola Von Der Leyen, with the intention of producing a set of guidelines for the development of the sector.
A few days ago, during a panel discussion at University College London Altman said that OpenAI will try hard to comply, but if it fails to do so, it will not hesitate to cease operations on the European continent.
Solana launches a plugin for ChatGPT
As OpenAI grows in popularity after the launch of ChatGPT in the Apple Store, Solana is trying to carve out its own space.
A few days ago, the layer 1 blockchain announced that it had created an open source implementation that would allow its users to perform on-chain actions on Solana directly through ChatGPT.
The Solana community, already enthusiastic about the launch of the web3 smartphone “Saga” showed even more muscle after this integration that is of fundamental importance for the developments of the chain.
Solana‘s foundation on the news stated the following:
“This integration from Solana Labs serves as a reference for how AI can make it easier to understand Solana data and protocols, or surface data about Solana’s computing infrastructure and DeFi projects.”
Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO of the “Ethereum Killer” network, believes AI will make Solana more usable and more understandable by enabling users to purchase NFTs, inspect data and transfer assets with minimal effort.
The blockchain firmly believes in the future of artificial intelligence, so much so that it has announced a willingness to invest $1 million to $10 million in strategic grants.
In a very short time, about fifty applications have already surfaced, motivating the foundation to invest in human resources, which are still scarce in the AI sector.
In particular, Solana will launch a 3-month accelerator program for university students dedicated exclusively to experimenting with blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2023/05/25/openai-launches-chatgpt-apple-store/