Sam Altman needs developers to build useful tools with ChatGPT, but his company is pissing them off right now. Just before Christmas weekend, OpenAI emailed plugin developers, people building practical tools with ChatGPT, asking them to turn their work into GPTs.
“Thank you for your interest in developing a ChatGPT plugin. We’ve taken our learnings from plugins and created GPTs,” said OpenAI in the email to developers. “If you previously explored building a plugin, much of the developer setup [with GPTs] is similar, you can learn more about moving to or building a custom action from scratch in our developer documentation.”
Several developers took to X to write “RIP Plugins” following the email. GPTs and plugins are built to do the same thing – create practical uses for ChatGPT – but there are key differences that make developers prefer plugins.
The main distinction is that GPTs are built with a no-code chat interface inside of ChatGPT, whereas plugins are built with code outside of ChatGPT. A plugin is like an app that’s connected to ChatGPT, whereas a GPT is more like a chatbot with specific knowledge and instructions. GPTs are friendlier to everyday people, but plugins offer more functionality (which means developers tend to like them more).
“FYI, plugins aren’t going away yet,” said Logan Kilpatrick, OpenAI’s Head of Developer Relations, in a tweet responding to a disgruntled developer who got the email – “yet” being the keyword here. “Once the GPT store goes live I imagine most people will move over to GPTs,” said Kilpatrick in another tweet.
Developers have already built thousands of ChatGPT plugins since they launched in March 2023, including plugins from a few companies such as Expedia, Instacart, and Kayak. On November 6th, DevDay, OpenAI removed plugins from the ChatGPT home screen, making them significantly harder to access. Sam Altman previously stated that “ChatGPT plugins don’t have product market fit” in an interview with Human Loop, though OpenAI subsequently requested the article be taken down. Now the company is trying to revamp plugins with the more consumer-friendly GPT Store.
“As a plugin developer, it doesn’t feel the same for me,” said one user on X. “Plug-ins were superior to Custom GPTs,” said another. “I sincerely hope OpenAI does not phase out the Plugin,” said a post on a developer forum, noting “It’s crucial for the development and progress in AI applications that we continue to have access to such powerful tools.”
OpenAI’s developer conference, DevDay, was all about convincing developers to build products on its platforms. The GPT Store aims to make AI agents more digestible for consumers, but that could ostracize the developer community that OpenAI needs to build good GPTs.
This isn’t the first time Altman has upset developers. Earlier this year, an update to ChatGPT included PDF analysis that rendered the products of many developers useless. “But as we say, don’t build a thin wrapper on top of OpenAI,” said Altman to The Verge. “We are planning to build the obvious features that you would expect for a robust platform over time.” It didn’t appear obvious to developers though.
Part of the reason for prioritizing GPTs with limited functionality may be to solve some of the security concerns around plugins. Researchers told Wired that ChatGPT plugins could be used to steal someone’s chat history, obtain personal information, and allow code to be executed on someone’s machine. GPTs aim to be safer, but there are currently limitations that make developers less excited to build them.
At the start of Apple, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs fought over the number of ports to put on a computer. Wozniak wanted more ports, which would be friendlier to computer nerds who wanted to mod their home setup, whereas Jobs wanted fewer ports. Jobs ended up winning out, as fewer ports created cleaner products that regular people enjoyed more. It seems that Altman and OpenAI have chosen the Apple route—shooting to appeal to the everyday person over developers. The difference is that Apple was selling a finished product, whereas OpenAI (currently gunning to be the second-most valuable startup in the U.S.) needs developers to build useful AI applications if it wants to succeed.