OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup, has announced that starting Monday, users will be able to access its popular ChatGPT generative AI chatbot without the need to sign up for an account.
ChatGPT, which ignited the generative AI surge in late 2022, offers capabilities such as mimicking human conversation, summarizing lengthy texts, crafting poems, and even brainstorming ideas for themed parties.
In a move to make AI accessible to anyone curious about its potential, OpenAI plans to gradually roll out the sign-up-free feature. The company, based in San Francisco, highlighted that ChatGPT, known for having the fastest-growing user base, experienced a slowdown in growth since peaking at 1.8 billion web visits in May 2023, according to Similarweb.
To ensure responsible use, OpenAI has implemented additional content safeguards for users accessing ChatGPT without signing up, including blocking prompts and output in a wider range of categories, though specific categories were not disclosed.
Besides the free version of ChatGPT, which lacks direct internet access, OpenAI offers paid tiers for individuals, teams, and enterprises. The company also mentioned that it may utilize user-provided content to enhance its large-language models, with an option for users to disable this feature.
This development follows a lawsuit filed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman last month, alleging that they deviated from the company’s original mission to develop AI for humanity’s benefit, prioritizing profit instead.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
