OpenAI’s ChatGPT kickstarted the global fascination with GenAI and in many ways spawned the aggressive drive by competing technology companies to develop GenAI solutions of their own. Up until now, anyone who wanted to take advantage of this ground-breaking platform had to first create an account with OpenAI.
While this didn’t quash adoption — the platform boasts more than 100 million users every week — it certainly dissuaded some users. At a time when the competitive landscape in GenAI is exploding, OpenAI has taken a radical step to enable users to access ChatGPT instantly without signing up.
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Instant Access
Users will see this new approach rolled out slowly, but the aim is to make the capabilities of ChatGPT more widely available. That said, users with an account will continue to benefit from extras that non-account holders don’t, such as saving and reviewing chat history, sharing chats, and unlocking supplementary features including voice conversations.
The new instant access model has created a three-tiered system for ChatGPT usage. The simplest plan, negating the need for an OpenAI account, gives users access to ChatGPT 3.5 but includes no additional or advanced features. The second tier requires users to open a free account for access to ChatGPT 3.5 plus additional features. The third tier, which includes paid plans, Plus, Teams, and Enterprise, opens the advanced capabilities of ChatGPT 4, GPT creation, additional services like DALL·E, and more. Ultimately, the higher the price of the plan, the more access and functionality a user has.
Regarding privacy, existing users can choose whether to allow OpenAI to use their data for model training. This ability will remain for users who access the service without an OpenAI account. OpenAI has also introduced new content safeguarding measures that include prompt and content generation blocking for more categories.
Competitive Perspective
Google Bard is one of ChatGPT’s biggest rivals. Users must have a Google Account to access the service. Similarly, Microsoft’s Copilot requires users to have a Microsoft account.
The difference is that both of these bots are integrated with services provided by the respective companies. For example, Microsoft included a Copilot AI key on new Windows keyboards, while Google has integrated Bard extensions into several well-known apps and services, such as Google Maps.
In light of this, OpenAI’s decision to enable non-sign-up access is unlikely to impact the adoption of its two key rivals’ services. Firstly, these GenAI capabilities provide added value and aren’t necessarily the go-to reason that a user would choose to adopt the company’s technology.
Secondly, as a standalone service, ChatGPT has become in many ways a gateway to GenAI, the first port of call for individuals and companies keen to see the capabilities of the technology in action. ChatGPT is incredibly impressive, and as a demonstrator of what GenAI can enable, it may well encourage users to adopt services on other platforms — perhaps encouraging them to click that Copilot button more often or asking Bard to find them the best route home.
