ZAP // World Economic Forum / Flickr; OpenAI
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
Ahead of the listing, OpenAI wants to transform ChatGPT into a single assistant capable of programming, creating images and performing tasks, in a strategic move for paid products and enterprise customers
OpenAI prepares the major remodeling since its launch kicked off the boom in artificial intelligence, at a time when the group, valued at around 738 billion euros, is looking for new growth engines ahead of its IPO scheduled for this year.
The company intends transform the chatbot into a “superapp” that combines programming tools and artificial intelligence agents, adding products that those responsible believe can generate more revenue.
The changes are part of a broader reorganization at OpenAI, as the San Francisco-based company redirects resources to win profitable business customers and compete more intensely with the rival Anthropicaccording to several current and former company workers.
OpenAI faces a increasing pressure to increase revenues and chart a path to profitability as it prepares to launch an Initial Public Offering.
This strategy, says the FT, represents a change of direction for the company led by Sam Altmanwho became the face of the artificial intelligence boom and brought the technology to the general public when he introduced ChatGPT in 2022.
The changes, which will give greater prominence and more resources to CodexOpenAI’s programming product, reflect the growing conviction within the company that the future of artificial intelligence is not in chatbots that answer questions, but in agents capable of performing tasks for users.
“The chat died”, a senior OpenAI manager told the FT.
OpenAI employees are increasingly viewing ChatGPT, which has attracted nearly a billion users since launch, as a gateway to present higher value products. Most consumers use the chatbot for free.
The company is moving forward with these changes in a context in which it believes that the arrival of artificial intelligence agentscapable of performing multiple tasks for users, from booking trips to organizing calendars, will give rise to a more valuable product than chatbot.
At the same time, products like Codex can write code and create software from simple instructions from users.
The reform, which should begin to be made available in the coming weeks, will appear initially in the form of changes to the website and ChatGPT mobile applications, encouraging customers to use programming tools, imaging and applications from external partners.
The changes show how OpenAI’s strategy approaches Anthropicwhose focus on developing products for companies has fueled its accelerated growth.
“About a year ago, OpenAI’s strategy was to go all in bigwhile Anthropic’s was to make money first,” he said Jenny Xiaopartner at Leonis Capital and former researcher at OpenAI.
“Now, the two are convergingbecause both seek to reach an initial public offering and investors care more about money than dreams.”
To encourage users to adopt these services, OpenAI is redesign the ChatGPT interfaceadding new commands and features that direct users to programming tools, imaging and apps created by partners like Canva and Booking.com, according to people familiar with the plans.
Over time, says the Financial Times, OpenAI intends to abandon these commands and functionalities, betting that its models will be able to Automatically understand users’ intentions when they are in the application or on the website.
In a sign of the effort OpenAI is making to win more corporate customers, some initiatives aimed at consumers were relegated to the background, including a “checkout” functionality that allowed purchases within ChatGPT. The company also closed Soraits video generation product, less than a year after launch.
Those responsible believe that users will increasingly interact with a unique artificial intelligence assistantinstead of using a set of separate applications.
As agents become more capable, OpenAI expects the distinction between chatbots, programming tools, search products and other software categories to become blurred.
“When we have it, I don’t think there will be a large number of different brands,” he said. Alex Embiricoshead of enterprise product at OpenAI. “There will probably be a single entity that I can talk to that will be able to do everything I need”.
