OpenAI today announced the launch of a ChatGPT API for businesses that will allow corporate customers to build the same tech that powers the company’s trailblazing AI chatbot into their apps, websites, products, and services. In addition to an API for ChatGPT, OpenAI is also offering one for Whisper, the company’s speech recognition and transcription model.
When ChatGPT became publicly available late last year, it kicked off an AI arms race that has since spread like wildfire. Microsoft, which owns a major chunk of OpenAI, has unveiled a slew of AI-powered chatbot products, as have Google and several other tech companies. OpenAI’s new API makes it easier for companies to develop their own ChatGPT-like offerings and more.
The business API comes after ChatGPT made history in December by crossing 100 million active users in record time, and it follows last month’s launch of ChatGPT Plus, a premium subscription service for the chatbot.
“It takes us a while to get these APIs to a certain quality level,” OpenAI President and Chairman Greg Brockman told The Verge. “I think it’s kind of this, like, just being able to meet the demand and the scale.”
According to OpenAI, the new ChatGPT API is based on “gpt-3.5-turbo,” the same model family that’s behind the company’s chatbot. Gpt-3.5-turbo is a major improvement over OpenAI’s existing GPT-3.5 models, slashing compute costs by up to 10 times and allowing the company to offer the API at reduced rates.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT API for businesses costs $0.002 per 1,000 “tokens,” as the company calls them, which amounts to about 750 words. Per Brockman, the API can enable several different kinds of experiences, including “non-chat” applications.
Businesses are already making use of the new ChatGPT API in their products, with OpenAI listing Snap, Shopify, Quizlet, and Instacart as some of the early adopters. Snap last week announced My AI, a chatbot for (paid) users of the popular social network Snapchat.
At the same time, OpenAI is also introducing dedicated capacity for enterprise customers. “ChatGPT API users can expect continuous model improvements and the option to choose dedicated capacity for deeper control over the models,” the company said.
What’s more, OpenAI today changed its API developer policy to no longer use customer data submitted through its APIs for “service improvements” by default, instead only using data from customers or organizations that consent to it.
