The impact of ChatGPT Plug-Ins
You have probably discovered that OpenAI announced Plug-ins for ChatGPT. If not, you can read up on it here: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt-plugins
I won't rehash what everyone else is saying, but I will touch on a few things I don't think are being told and relate back a bit to my post about The Future Of Search. Link here: Thoughts on the future of search, ads, privacy and more in the age of GPTs (tinselai.com)
Old Thoughts Revisited:
If OpenAI makes plug-ins like an app store, then a few questions get answered. I will just hit on one example to keep it short:
❓ What is the value of a lot of websites anymore?
Answer: Diminished value. We will see a potentially significant reduction in traffic to sites because they will be using the ChatGPT native plug-in.
I hinted around at a pay-to-play model, and that is where this is going. There will likely be a fee to be part of the plug-in ecosystem, and revenue sharing will likely be a requirement. We may see many companies attempt to wrap their site in the veneer of a plug-in. It will be interesting.
New thoughts:
❓ How long will it take before EU regulators step in with this model?
Check out a post from me yesterday on why GDPR was brilliant and what that may mean for ChatGPT to get a better context for the following.
GDPR was brilliant, but not for why you think (tinselai.com)
It took the EU years to fully understand the Apple App Store and start to constrain it. They have seen this model before and now know what it means, so I am confident they will react much faster with regulating Plug-ins for ChatGPT if it starts dominating the market. This is a problem with doing plug-ins versus search...it opens you up to even greater regulatory scrutiny.
Value arbitrage:
❓ For all those companies and start-ups that rushed out a ChatGPT value arbitrage app. What happens now?
Those apps that were created as just a veneer on top of ChatGPT targeting a specific use case will run into some serious competition. Plug-ins will now be the place to build those. Only one company will be a winner in the value arbitrage space, and that will be OpenAI. If any plug-in from a third party or a website packages it successfully, OpenAI builds its version. Not unlike what Amazon has done with Amazon Basics. https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazonbasics-is-crushing-other-private-brands/506116/
Original Post on LinkedIn:
John Rice