OpenAI has delayed the launch of the GPT Store to early 2024, and that’s a great development for custom GPTs – here’s why.
The iPhone revolutionized the mobile industry in 2007, but the key iPhone feature that turned the smartphone into the most important personal computer in our lives was the App Store that came a year later. Longtime iPhone users will remember that the App Store wasn’t a part of Apple’s initial iPhone vision. Steve Jobs famously resisted the idea before seeing the light.
As a longtime iPhone user myself, I can’t envision an iPhone experience without third-party apps. I use some of those apps more than the apps that come with the iPhone.
I think the same will apply to ChatGPT in the near future. We’re approaching the era of personal AI experiences, where we’ll see custom AI programs handling specific tasks rather than a single chatbot being an all-knowing resource.
It’s all starting with the custom GPTs that OpenAI announced about a month ago. Interestingly, this ChatGPT mimics the iPhone App Store upgrade. It’s coming about a year later.
But OpenAI decided to further postpone the release of its GPT store functionality. Given the recent developments, I think that’s all for the best. And it’s not just about the Sam Altman drama we’ve witnessed in the past few weeks.
ChatGPT Plus is still sold out
Sam Altman announced the custom GPTs at DevDay in early November. He also announced plans to release a custom GPT store and a revenue-sharing program.
The GPT storefront should have launched by the end of November. Then, OpenAI pushed it to December. But now the release has moved to a generic “early next year” timeframe.
