OpenAI launches GPT Store to capitalize on ChatGPT's success

 Artificial intelligence lab OpenAI has launched its GPT Store, a marketplace for personalized artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.

The GPT Store is located within the popular ChatGPT chatbot, and is a place for users to discover and build GPTs, or AI customized for tasks like teaching math or designing stickers.

It is OpenAI's attempt to build on the consumer success of ChatGPT, which introduced the world to generative AI last year, dazzling users with its ability to write humanlike prose and poetry. ChatGPT quickly became one of the fastest growing apps ever, but growth declined when some schools were out of session and the chatbot's novelty wore off.

The GPT Store will initially be rolled out to users who are on paid ChatGPT plans, OpenAI said. In the next several months, the company intends to add a way for GPT creators to monetize their personalized AIs.

The Microsoft-backed startup announced the GPT Store in November at its first developer conference. It was originally set to go live later that month.

But in December, OpenAI delayed the launch of the GPT store, citing in an internal memo it was continuing to "make improvements" to GPTs based on customer feedback. The delay came against the backdrop of the surprise ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman by the company's board and his reinstatement when employees threatened to quit.

In addition, OpenAI said on Wednesday it is launching ChatGPT Team, a version of ChatGPT that companies pay for so their employees can use ChatGPT at work. ChatGPT Team segregates a company's data, so any information entered into the chatbot remains private to the company. ChatGPT Team costs between $25 to $30 per user per month.