OpenAI Launches iOS App for ChatGPT in US

OpenAI launched an iOS app of its own ChatGPT in the US on Thursday. The company promises that an Android version will be available “soon” and wants to ensure worldwide access in the coming weeks.

Those who previously searched for ‘ChatGPT’ in the App Store certainly saw some apps. However, it always concerned third-party variants that promised access to the advanced chatbot. This sometimes involved fleeceware: a scam in which, for example, fake ChatGPT subscriptions were sold.

Revenue model

The ChatGPT app adds one important functionality over the web application: speech-to-text. In this way, users should be able to ‘talk’ to the chatbot in an even more natural way. OpenAI’s speech recognition tech, Whisper, is said to provide high accuracy. The company offers ChatGPT for free and remembers conversations from device to device.

OpenAI’s revenue model seems to remain the same: those who want to talk unlimited with the very best GPT-4 model can take out a subscription of 20 dollars (in the Netherlands 22.61 euros due to VAT). The app itself has no ads, unlike Microsoft’s also OpenAI tech-backed Bing Chat.

The switch to an app variant is not too crazy. OpenAI will not have been fond of any reputational damage caused by the fake ChatGPT apps. In addition, apps on mobile phones are highly preferred by users over a web version, especially among younger generations. Not too crazy that OpenAI chooses this.

Watchdogs

The development of AI chatbots has spurred many a political body into action. For example, the Italian privacy watchdog blocked access to ChatGPT and it was only allowed again after OpenAI met a number of wishes regarding privacy legislation.

The watchdogs that OpenAI had to take into account in the development of the app are not only political in nature. For example, Apple itself would have had its doubts in March about an app update from another party. This was because the newly added generative AI functionality could cause harmful content to children on the app in question. However, ChatGPT has a 12+ label on the US App Store.