When GPTs were launched by OpenAI, we said that it was the first step towards the end of ChatGPT Plugins. And it indeed was. OpenAI has now officially sent a mail to all the plugin developers that they might soon support for plugins, and the developers can now shift to building GPTs, which the company claims is somewhat similar in process.

Though ChatGPT plugins are not absolutely dead yet as people can still register to build them, OpenAI’s mail is sent to the people registering for making plugins that GPTs can do the same thing, but better. “They can use actions to call APIs, similarly to plugins, provide custom instructions, invoke DALL-E and more,” read the mail also talking about the launch of GPT Store early next year. 

Developers are not happy

Though it clearly seems like GPTs are easier to build and also offer more functionality when compared to plugins, developers are not happy with OpenAI’s decision. 

The primary difference lies in the construction method, as GPTs incorporate a no-code chat interface within ChatGPT, whereas plugins are constructed through code outside of ChatGPT. A plugin functions akin to an application linked to ChatGPT, while a GPT resembles a chatbot equipped with specific knowledge and instructions. GPTs are designed to be user-friendly for the general public, while plugins, favoured by developers, provide enhanced functionality.

Logan Kilpatrick, OpenAI’s head of developer relations responded to one of the posts on X that said “RIP ChatGPT Plugins”, saying “FYI, plugins aren’t going away yet, this was just a reminder to everyone who joined the developer waitlist that never got access that we launched GPTs and anyone with plus can build them!” In another post, he said that once the GPT Store goes live, most people will move away from Plugins. 

It seems as though that is not the case though. “Plug-ins were superior to Custom GPTs.” said a user on X. Another said, “As a plugin developer, it doesn’t feel the same for me. Eg previews are open graphs for plugins, but images for GPT.” A user on the developer forum said, “Plugins are crucial for the development and progress in AI applications that we continue to have access to such powerful tools.”

To put it simply, OpenAI needs developers to build better use cases of ChatGPT, but this decision has definitely pissed off some of the developers from the company’s community. 

Since their launch in March 2023, developers have created numerous ChatGPT plugins. However, on November 6th, during DevDay, OpenAI opted to remove plugins from the ChatGPT home screen, thereby increasing the difficulty of accessing them. In an interview with Human Loop, Sam Altman had earlier expressed that “ChatGPT plugins don’t have product market fit,” although OpenAI later requested the removal of the article.

Another hot mess?

GPTs don’t solve the problems that Plugins had as well. For example, with a little fancier prompt engineering, a user on X was able to download the original knowledge files from someone else’s GPTs. This was the same with ChatGPT Plugins that had the potential to be exploited for unauthorised access to someone’s chat history, retrieval of personal information, and the execution of code on an individual’s machine.

But now, just as ChatGPT Plugins store was launched and touted as an iOS store moment, GPTs Store is also the same. There are thousands of plugins available right now, and it is a hot mess. What if the same happens with the new store?

Now that we are talking about the iOS store, Apple is also putting a lot of effort into pulling developers onto its platforms. It has released a bunch of open source offerings for its silicon along with multimodal open source models. It is also releasing models for powering edge capabilities. 

On the other hand, OpenAI is messing with its developers. Arguably, it might not affect the company so much in the longer run, which is what they hope as well. Apple did the same thing earlier when it did not allow ports for its iOS, now OpenAI is doing the same, and is hoping to deliver more finished products.

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