4 ms·

Is offering gpt4o for free through chatgpt not enough of a contribution? They didn't release source code, but they made a product free to use

mplewis 2y ago
No. If it were free you'd be able to use it as a programming API. It's not free and it's not unlimited - it's a time-limited marketing tool.
- spencerchubb 2y ago
  How are you defining the word free?
talldayo 2y ago
Free service != Open software
notarobot123 2y ago
This isn't generosity, it's a well known and much used strategy for market penetration. Free until-we-decide-otherwise is very much not the same as open source.
- rvense 2y ago
  In so far as it is a conscious strategy to make it more expensive at a later data, it is actually sort of the opposite of generosity.
- spencerchubb 2y ago
  So if something is free but only temporarily, then that cancels out the generosity? Also, you and I have no idea how long the features will remain free. If anything, chatgpt has been making more features and stronger models free over time.
  - simonw 2y ago
    Sometimes it does, yeah. It's not unheard of for companies to deliberately operate at a loss in order to drive out their competition, then raise prices again. This is known as "predatory pricing".
echelon 2y ago
That can actually make competition from open source harder. New upstarts that are open source can't compete with free service from OpenAI and can't make money to grow their development or offerings. OpenAI wants to kill everything that isn't OpenAI.
- ben_w 2y ago
  New open source models* still wouldn't be able to compete even if OpenAI was forcibly shut down. Hardware's too expensive, and will be for a while, because all the big players are trying to get in on it. * cue arguments: "'open weights' or training data'?"; "does the Meta offering count or are they being sneaky and evil?"; etc.
- spencerchubb 2y ago
  So should OpenAI make their product less accessible, in order to make it easier for competition? That makes no sense
  - oblio 2y ago
    I call chicken. Let them make all their products paid. Hint: they won't, it would kill their company. The hype around OpenAI is based on people using it for free, at least at the start. Heck, even drug dealers know this trick!

mplewis 2y ago

No. If it were free you'd be able to use it as a programming API. It's not free and it's not unlimited - it's a time-limited marketing tool.

spencerchubb 2y ago
How are you defining the word free?

talldayo 2y ago

Free service != Open software

notarobot123 2y ago

This isn't generosity, it's a well known and much used strategy for market penetration. Free until-we-decide-otherwise is very much not the same as open source.

rvense 2y ago
In so far as it is a conscious strategy to make it more expensive at a later data, it is actually sort of the opposite of generosity.
spencerchubb 2y ago
So if something is free but only temporarily, then that cancels out the generosity? Also, you and I have no idea how long the features will remain free. If anything, chatgpt has been making more features and stronger models free over time.
- simonw 2y ago
  Sometimes it does, yeah. It's not unheard of for companies to deliberately operate at a loss in order to drive out their competition, then raise prices again. This is known as "predatory pricing".

echelon 2y ago

That can actually make competition from open source harder. New upstarts that are open source can't compete with free service from OpenAI and can't make money to grow their development or offerings. OpenAI wants to kill everything that isn't OpenAI.

ben_w 2y ago
New open source models* still wouldn't be able to compete even if OpenAI was forcibly shut down. Hardware's too expensive, and will be for a while, because all the big players are trying to get in on it. * cue arguments: "'open weights' or training data'?"; "does the Meta offering count or are they being sneaky and evil?"; etc.
spencerchubb 2y ago
So should OpenAI make their product less accessible, in order to make it easier for competition? That makes no sense
- oblio 2y ago
  I call chicken. Let them make all their products paid. Hint: they won't, it would kill their company. The hype around OpenAI is based on people using it for free, at least at the start. Heck, even drug dealers know this trick!