OpenAI is having trouble keeping up with demand for its subscription service. ChatGPT Plus, the company’s paid subscription service that grants users more access and features for the AI chat assistant, has been available for several months. However, the latest features have led to so much demand that the company is pausing signups to deal with it.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to announce that they are pausing signups for ChatGPT Plus due to overwhelming demand. Altman said that “the surge in usage post devday has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience.” Those who were hoping to sign up can now be put on a waitlist.
we are pausing new ChatGPT Plus sign-ups for a bit 🙁
the surge in usage post devday has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience.
you can still sign-up to be notified within the app when subs reopen.
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 15, 2023
The pause on ChatGPT Plus signups comes a week after the company hosted its Dev Day event and announced GPTs, which are custom versions of ChatGPT that users can create without writing a lick of code. GPTs are a new feature for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, so that likely explains the surge in signups that OpenAI experienced, leading to the pause.
“Anyone can easily build their own GPT— no coding is required. You can make them for yourself, just for your company’s internal use, or for everyone. Creating one is as easy as starting a conversation, giving it instructions and extra knowledge, and picking what it can do, like searching the web, making images or analyzing data.”
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In addition to being able to build custom GPTs, users will also be able to list them on the upcoming GPT Store. OpenAI says that it will share a portion of its revenue with developers when people use the GPTs that they built, but it’s currently unclear how much money that will equate to.
Starting today, you can create GPTs and share them publicly. Later this month, we’re launching the GPT Store, featuring creations by verified builders. Once in the store, GPTs become searchable and may climb the leaderboards. We will also spotlight the most useful and delightful GPTs we come across in categories like productivity, education, and “just for fun”. In the coming months, you’ll also be able to earn money based on how many people are using your GPT.
OpenAI says that ChatGPT now has over 100 million weekly users. It seems that, between its own apps and its partnership with Microsoft, the company is preparing itself to be the next big technology company. It’s even about to have its own app store…ish!